InnovPlantProtect (InPP) is pleased to announce the publication of an international patent application (PCT) for a strain of Bacillus velezensis with application as a plant biostimulant. This innovation represents a significant milestone in our research, with a direct impact on sustainable agriculture and crop resilience in the face of climate and environmental challenges.
A natural and effective solution
The biostimulant developed by our team has been carefully studied and tested on different vegetable crops, such as tomatoes and lettuce, and on cereals, such as rice. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of this technology:
Greater development in the early stages of crops, This promotes more vigorous and healthy starts.
Increased productivity, This is evidenced by greater fresh biomass in lettuce and greater fruit production in tomatoes.
Proven molecular responses, with analyses confirming the activation of genes associated with plant responses to different types of abiotic stress.
These results reinforce the effectiveness of the Bacillus velezensis as a natural biostimulation tool, capable of boosting crop performance and contributing to more sustainable agriculture.
From the lab to the field
This patent is another step in InPP's commitment to developing innovative, sustainable biotechnological solutions with industrial applicability. The aim is clear: to support farmers and companies in the sector in meeting the challenges of crop productivity, quality and resilience, in an era when agriculture needs sustainable, high-impact responses.
We are looking for strategic partnerships
We are currently looking for new partnerships with companies and entities in the agricultural sector to take this technology from the laboratory to the field. We believe that collaboration is the key to turning scientific innovation into practical solutions that benefit the entire agricultural value chain.
If you're interested in learning more about this technology or exploring opportunities for collaboration, talk to us. Together we can drive a more productive, resilient and sustainable agriculture.
Innovate together. Protect better.
Image credits: InnovPlantProtect - Inês Ferreira (Photos from left to right: Sandra Caeiro and Rui Figueiras, researchers from the Specific Crop Protection Department and Inês Mexia, researcher from the Formulations and Process Development Department.
“We're here to listen to the sector's problems and find solutions together”. This was said by António Saraiva, executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), who attended the eighth edition of the National Olive Oil Congress, held in Campo Maior and featured in the July edition of Voz do Campo magazine.
In the interview, António Saraiva highlighted the importance of olive growing, one of the most representative crops in the Mediterranean, and pointed out some of the major challenges currently facing the sector:
A growing shortage of phytosanitary solutions: many tools are disappearing and effective alternatives are not always emerging.
The long road between research and application in the field: the process of bringing a scientific solution to farmers can take around 10 years.
Impacts of climate change and emerging pests, which make farming even more difficult.
Faced with these challenges, InPP is committed to developing new innovative solutions that are environmentally friendly and sustainable for farmers. CoLAB is looking for agents such as active substances and microorganisms capable of controlling diseases and boosting biostimulants, as well as investing in digital technologies that allow producers to detect crop problems early and increase the effectiveness of interventions.
Another point highlighted by the executive director is the need to speed up the transfer of knowledge to the field, through partnerships and commercial agreements that ensure that innovations actually reach farmers.
“We're here to listen to the sector's problems and find solutions together. We want to be close to farmers, associations and companies, because that's the only way we can develop effective and sustainable tools,” António Saraiva stressed.
The full interview is available in the July issue of Voz do Campo magazine, on newsstands now, and in the image below.
It's called PROSPER and it's a new European project that aims to transform European agriculture through the valorization of “orphan” legumes - resistant crops, little exploited, but with great potential to face the challenges of climate and food in the future.
The consortium, with total funding of around 5 million euros, brings together 27 partners from 13 European countries and Tunisia, including universities, research centers, companies and non-profit organizations in the agricultural sector. Among them are countries from the Mediterranean (Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and France), Central Europe (Germany, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Finland).
The aim of PROSPER is to test and validate new agricultural diversification strategies, adapted to different climates and social and economic contexts, promoting more sustainable, innovative practices that are adjusted to the needs of different agricultural realities.
InPP, PROSPER's partner, will be responsible for analyzing:
Soil health and environmental impact
Energy efficiency and waste management
Nutritional quality of crops
Fair valuation along the production chain
To do this, the InPP team will use advanced technologies, such as real-time sensors and geospatial analysis, which will help study soil health, carbon sequestration captured by crops, water management and biodiversity, among others.
PROSPER is co-created with the main players in the agricultural sector, ensuring that the solutions developed do not remain on paper: they will be practical, useful and transformative.
The project starts in September 2025. We are ready to embark on this journey towards a greener, fairer and more resilient agriculture.
InnovPlantProtect (InPP) is taking part in a European project, coordinated by the University of Minho (UMinho), which aims to create nanobiopesticides and nanobiofertilizers to combat pests in viticulture, protecting the environment, increasing production, reducing costs and tackling climate change. The project is called VINNY, brings together 19 partners from ten countries and will receive 8.3 million euros over the next four years from the Horizon Europe program. The European Union is the world's largest wine producer and is therefore looking to invest in ecological and economically sustainable production based on Portuguese know-how.
The VINNY kick-off meeting took place on July 25 and 26 in Porto and the Douro wine region, in an experimental field at Quinta do Pôpa, and was attended by InPP, represented by the directors of the New Biopesticides and Specific Crop Protection departments Cristina Azevedo and Sandra Correia. Moving from intensive to sustainable viticulture on a global scale and cutting agrochemicals in the sector by 50% are the main objectives of the consortium led by Margarida Fernandes, from the Center for Microelectromechanical Systems (CMEMS) at UMinho's School of Engineering.
The kick-off meeting of the VINNY project brought together all the partners in Porto and the Douro wine region
“We're going to study the microbiomes of vineyards in Portugal, Spain, Austria and Denmark to create potent cocktails with antifungal and plant protection profiles which, through nanoencapsulation and stimulation, will be more stable and effective. We're also going to create biofertilizers with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium based on by-products from the meat industry and wastewater treatment,” he explains. The project will also propose agrotextiles impregnated with these nanobiofertilizers, as well as testing their efficiency, efficacy and safety in the laboratory, in pilot areas and in the field.
VINNY is expected to give rise to several projects in co-promotion with companies and associations. The project also has a social aspect, establishing the “European Vineyard Network” made up of three Living Labs and a Lighthouse to disseminate sustainable practices to farmers and organizations in the area, thus boosting innovation and sustainability in the primary sector.
At a national level, in addition to InPP, the consortium includes CMEMS (which is joined by the Center for Biological Engineering, as part of the associated laboratory LABBELS), the Center for Molecular and Environmental Biology, all from UMinho, as well as ADVID - Cluster da Vinha e do Vinho, and the communication agency LKCOM. At European level, it brings together five universities, eleven companies and three associations from ten countries. VINNY stands for “Advanced nano encapsulation of bio-based pesticides and fertilizers for a circular and sustainable viticulture”.
On July 24th, Eixo InFrass organized a webinar as part of the New Bioindustry - The future has already begun series of sessions, on the topic of “Agronomic valorization of organic insect fertilizer”.
The Secretary General of the Agenda, António Campos, opened the session and presented the InsectERA Mobilizing Agenda, followed by Sandra Correia, representing InnovPlantProtect as the leader of this WP, who presented the objectives of this axis.
This was followed by Ivã Lopes, from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, who spoke about “The Potential and Advantages of Using Organic Insect Fertilizer”, resulting from the research he is carrying out. This included evaluating the chitin of three insects (black soldier fly, crickets and mealworms).
He concluded his speech by outlining the prospects for using frass:
Frass is an organic fertilizer with similar characteristics to conventional organic compounds... but there are differences!
The concentration of biostimulants in frass seems to be higher than other organics, which results in superior growth and metabolic effects
Frass contains a large amount of chitin, a natural stimulant of plant immunity
Can we consider applying frass alone? Yes. However, combining it with other raw materials results in more significant effects
We need to unravel the mechanisms behind how frass works! To do this: tests and more tests, with partnerships between industry and academia
Frass stimulates microorganisms that affect communication between plants. How can this synergistic effect be optimized?
Clarice Sousa (EntoGreen), Marisa Santos (Thunder Foods) and José Gonçalves (The Cricket) addressed the topic “Innovative Production of Organic Fertilizers: Insect Companies Present Sustainable Solutions”, which focused on the technical aspects of producing black soldier fly, tenebrio and cricket (Acheta domesticus), including the physical and chemical composition of the frass.
Sara Campos, from INEGI, presented “Challenges and Solutions in Frass Processing: Efficiency and Regulation”, addressing the issue of experimental analyses of frass quality, with variations in time and temperature and the technologies/processes used by partners for heat treatment, recalling that the work underway is for the development and application of new methods for processing insect excrement (frass) that comply with European standards and increase the efficiency of the process in terms of time and energy, without jeopardizing the quality obtained.
Ana Rita Caranova, from the DGAV, spoke about the “Legal Framework for Farmed Insect Excrement, its Treatment and Use”. She began by presenting the DGAV, its Mission and Vision. He then outlined the Agenda, in particular the legal issues, such as technical clarifications, meetings with partners, clarifications and the preparation of material to support the interpretation of the legislation in force. He referred to the definition of frass, as well as the legal requirements for placing frass on the market, as FOCOS (Organic Fertilizer and Organic Soil amendment), supported by Regulation (EU) 142/2011, points a), b), d) and e) of section 2, Chapter I, Annex XI.
He finished by referring to labeling, transport and placing on the market, which are covered by specific regulations.
Regina Menino and António Cordeiro, from INIAV, developed “Frass as an Organic Fertilizer”. Regina Menino began the presentation by saying that frass is being used in various greenhouse and field trials, with the aim of assessing its agronomic potential (both in soils and in different crops). She also mentioned the trials in pots, which are being carried out using ryegrass as a model crop, and whose aim is the agronomic enhancement of frass from different origins.
António Cordeiro presented information on the work being carried out in the olive grove field trials - hedged and intensive, and in partnership with Nutrifarms. There are many expectations in terms of monitoring and analyzing the results.
Ricardo Ramiro and Leonor Martins, from InnovPlantProtect, presented “The Impact of Frass on Plant and Soil Health”. Trials are being carried out which include assessing the effect of different frass: on vegetables (physiological parameters and crop productivity), on corn (physiological parameters and growth assessment), and on the susceptibility of different crops to diseases, by carrying out controlled infection trials. The effect of different frass on the microbiome of different crops will also be tested.
The intervention culminated in a very important question: Frass: a new tool for manipulating the microbiome? Since frass is rich in organic matter, macro- and micronutrients, with chitin being a key component, the properties of frass vary according to several factors:
insects' diet
application of treatments (e.g. temperature)
incorporation of other products
==> such versatility could allow for customized applications
The application of frass to the soil leads to an increase in the abundance of organisms capable of degrading chitin (e.g. Actinobacteria; Bacillus; Mortierellomycetes), with multiple benefits for the plant.
Diogo Cardoso, from the University of Aveiro, closed the presentations with the topic “Analysis of Soil Functionality and Ecosystem Services with the Use of Insect Frass: Sustainability and Impact Assessment”. He began by highlighting the problem of food sustainability for the global population and the need to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices. This is where organic fertilizer (Insect frass) can come in, boosting enzymatic activity, benefiting soil health, making it biologically active, with high microbial activity and good nutrient recycling. It is in this context that laboratory work is being carried out to assess the impact of frass on soil and plants, and on soil leaching. Tests are also being carried out in greenhouses and in the field.
Português 
English