vitamina A – InnovPlantProtect

NEWS

InPP joins BioLivingLABS project - Bioeconomy at the service of the sustainability of inland territories

September 22, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News, Project
Ines Ferreira

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) recently received approval for an application submitted to COMPETE2030-2024-6 - Collective Actions - Transfer of scientific and technological knowledge - BioLivingLABS - Bioeconomy at the service of the sustainability of inland territories, led by MORE CoLAB - Laboratório Colaborativo Montanhas de Investigação, Associação, in partnership with the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB) and AQUAVALOR.

BioLivingLABS aims to promote the economic valorization of research and development (R&D) results obtained by various institutions in the North, Center and Alentejo. To this end, it will create an experimental demonstration network, the so-called Living Labs, The project will be held in the innovation hubs of Mirandela, Douro, Covilhã and Elvas. In addition, demonstration actions, workshops, an inland innovation catalog and training on intellectual property protection will be developed with the aim of encouraging the incorporation of innovative solutions in the business sectors of these regions.

Scheduled to begin in October and lasting 24 months, the project has a total eligible investment of over 740,000 euros, financed by COMPETE2030 - Thematic Program for Innovation and Digital Transition. For InPP, this project is a strategic opportunity to strengthen its mission as a center for technology development and transfer, boosting the practical application of scientific knowledge to promote sustainable development.

This initiative confirms InPP's commitment to open and sustainable innovation, integrating science, technology and regional development to respond to the challenges and potential of the interior of the country.

InPP took part in an Open Day dedicated to the cereals of Baixo Mondego

September 19, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News
Ines Ferreira

On September 18, the executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), António Saraiva, the director of the New Biopesticides Department, Cristina Azevedo, and researcher Luís Grilo attended the Open Day “The Cereals of Baixo Mondego”, promoted by the Centro Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Centro), at the Bico da Barca Experimental Unit in Montemor-o-Velho.

The event highlighted the latest innovations from the Coimbra Innovation Hub, from new technologies applied to maize and rice, to fertilization strategies, protection and the use of biostimulants on these key crops in the Baixo Mondego region.

Our team also monitored trials with biofungicides, including the product I21, developed with our collaborative laboratory to combat pyriculariosis in two rice varieties, which is being patented.

In an interview with Voice of the Countryside, Cristina Azevedo shared the work we have been doing in the area of biosolutions.

(Re)watch the interview here.

Image credits: InnovPlantProtect and Voz do Campo magazine

Maize in Portugal: phytosanitary challenges and new emerging threats

August 19, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News
Ines Ferreira

Maize continues to be the Portugal's most important arable crop, The sector has a significant impact on food safety and the national agri-food industry. Involving thousands of producers and generating tens of millions of euros a year, the sector is currently facing increasingly complex phytosanitary challenges.

Among already known pests and emerging diseases, there are risks ranging from cartridge caterpillar until Maize Rugose Dwarfism Virus (MRDV), The presence of this virus is increasing in Portugal. This virus, transmitted by the corn leafhopper, can seriously compromise production and is found in the climate change increasingly favorable conditions for its spread.

However, it's not just MRDV that's worrying. There are new threats that require vigilance, such as the coleopter Diabrotica virgifera or the MDMV virus (Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus), already detected in neighboring countries, and also toxic weeds, such as the winter fig (Datura stramonium), which in addition to impacting productivity pose public health risks.

Faced with this reality, the answer is integrated and sustainable strategies, matching:

crop rotation and good agricultural practices;
careful use of insecticides to avoid resistance and environmental impacts;
resistant or tolerant varieties, where available;
research and technological innovation, including new digital tools for early detection.

As the InnovPlantProtect researcher points out, Nuno Faria, in the article entitled “The main emerging pests and diseases of the maize crop in Portugal”, available in the August edition of Voz do Campo magazine: “The phytosanitary panorama of maize in Portugal requires continuous vigilance, investment in research and the application of integrated and sustainable strategies capable of responding to an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable reality.”

To find out more about the main current risks and mitigation measures, read the full article published in the August issue of Voz do Campo magazine (pages 88-89), available on newsstands and online.

EVENTS

South Campus priority innovation center is based at InnovPlantProtect

January 6, 2022
Blog
Ines Ferreira

MASSA - Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Modernization and Food Security is one of the priority CAIS of the South Campus and is based at the Elvas CoLAB.

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) is the headquarters of one of the three priority centers for applied knowledge and innovation of the recently created South Campus, This consortium brings together the University of Évora (UÉ), NOVA University Lisbon and the University of the Algarve. NOVA and UÉ are members of the collaborative laboratory (CoLAB).

The Centers of Applied Knowledge and Innovation for Sustainability (CAIS) focus on designing “innovative solutions in specific areas of sustainable development in the South, based on existing infrastructures,” explain the consortium's leaders. The specific objective of MASS CAISES - The Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Modernization and Food Security, based at the InPP in Elvas, aims to “promote agriculture based on a sustainable model, aligned with the principles of the circular economy and the eco-economy (...), contributing to the development and cohesion of the territories of the Iberian South and Interior”.

Innovation applied to agricultural production, the valorization of endogenous natural resources, the promotion of the Mediterranean diet and the training of human resources in the area of sustainable agriculture are the main thematic lines of action. The strategic partners of this CAIS include local authorities, CCDRs (Algarve, Alentejo, Lisbon), the Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV, also an InPP associate), Bayer Crop Science, Syngenta Crop Protection (both InPP associates), the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation, the Fraunhofer Institute and the Association of Young Farmers of Portugal (AJAP), as well as other academic partners at Iberian and international level.

The South Campus - Interuniversity Association of the South was presented was publicly announced on December 22, 2021, in the Auditorium of the Colégio do Espírito Santo at the University of Évora. InPP's executive director was one of the speakers at the afternoon session (Science Day@South). Pedro Fevereiro spoke on the panel “Earth Research and Social Innovation”, with a presentation entitled “Innovative Bio-based Solutions for Crop Protection”.

Read more on the Innovation component of the South Campus and on the priority CAIS, including MASSA.

A more sustainable Happy Holidays

December 15, 2021
Blog
Ines Ferreira

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) would like to wish the entire team, Associates and partners Happy Holidays by sharing the Christmas Tree set up by CoLAB's newly created sustainability team, InPP Greeners.

The maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) was purchased locally from the Elvas Volunteer Fire Brigade for a symbolic price, helping to raise funds for the organization, which collects the trees for the benefit of the Serra de São Mamede forest.

It is decorated with repurposed laboratory materials, including reused paper ribbons and recycled cardboard balls.

Follow the team on @InPPGreeners

The Elvas Volunteer Fire Brigade is selling the pine trees at a symbolic price of €5 and €10. The maritime pine is widely used in Portugal as a Christmas tree. Plastic, paper and cardboard, among other materials, were reused in the decorations.

InPP in three consortia in the 2nd phase of the PRR Mobilizing Agendas

December 6, 2021
Blog
Ines Ferreira

InnovPlantProtect is participating in three ideas that applied to the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) measure “Mobilizing Agendas for Business Innovation - Proposals for the Economy of the Future”, which have been selected to move on to phase two of the process: InsectERA, the Blue Bioeconomy Pact and OesteFruta 4.0.

OesteFruta 4.0 is a mobilizing agenda for fruit growing in the West. The aim is to provide the region and the sector with tools that will enable them to face current and future challenges, with a focus on the Rocha pear and the Alcobaça apple. The consortium is led by Atlantic Portuguese Apple - Clube da Maçã and the idea, presented on Friday in Leixões by Armando Torres Paulo, corresponds to a total investment of €97 million.

The public session to present the Mobilizing Agendas took place on December 2nd and 3rd at the Port of Leixões Cruise Terminal. At the day 3 Daniel Murta, CEO of Ingredient Odyssey, and Tiago Pitta e Cunha, representing Inovamar, which is leading the Blue Bioeconomy Pact. This idea, which corresponds to a total investment of €220 million, aims to reindustrialize the blue bioeconomy by creating new economic models based on the use of marine bio-resources, as well as creating the first blue bioeconomy in the world. hub european blue bioeconomy.

The InsectERA agenda, which involves a total investment of €57 million, aims to apply circular economy concepts to the insect industry. The idea is to return by-products from the agro-industry, and some agricultural and urban waste, to the value chain in the form of nutritional solutions for people, animals and plants, as well as new industrial solutions, from cosmetics to bioplastics.

The information is public and can be consulted on the from IAPMEI.