O InnovPlantProtect (InPP) promotes the seminar “Six years of innovation: The path of CoLABs for the future of the agricultural and agri-food sectors”, on the next day June 11th, from 09h30 until 11h00, in center stage at Espaço InsectERA, located in the Central Cloisters of the National Center for Agricultural Exhibitions and Markets (CNEMA) in Santarém.
The seminar aims to present the practical results and real impact of six Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs) in Portugal - InnovPlantProtect, Colab4Food, FeedInov, Food4Sustainability, MORE and SmartFarmCoLAB. These interface infrastructures are essential pillars of the National Innovation System (SNI) and play a growing and essential role in the dynamics of innovation for agriculture and agri-food.
The event will be attended by members of the teams and partners of each of the CoLABs, who will talk about their vision of the added value of these interface and innovation entities, from the point of view of those who collaborate directly with them.
The initiative, which is part of the National Agriculture Fair (FNA) 2025, which this year has the theme “Biosolutions” and will be the stage for exploring the innovations that are shaping the future of the sector, brings together different representatives of the innovation ecosystem to show the role of CoLABs in stimulating the transfer of knowledge and making innovation available to agriculture and agri-food in Portugal, creating value and attracting highly qualified human resources to the country.
See the full program in the image below.
The registration for the event is free, but mandatory due to the limited capacity of the space. Guarantee your presence by filling in the available form here.
We look forward to welcoming you for a morning of sharing and debate on the future of innovation in the agricultural and agri-food sectors!
Estamos em contagem decrescente para a Feira Nacional de Agricultura (FNA), uma das maiores feiras agrícolas do país!
É já de 7 a 15 de junho que o InPP vai estar na 61ª edição da Feira Nacional de Agricultura, que se realiza no CNEMA – Centro Nacional de Exposições, em Santarém.
O tema da edição deste ano é “Biosoluções”e pretende destacar a importância das soluções e tecnologias inovadoras no setor agroalimentar e na promoção de práticas mais sustentáveis e eficientes.
A FNA reúne agricultores, empresários e especialistas dos setores agroalimentar, pecuário e agrícola e é um excelente espaço para aumentar a nossa rede de contactos, trocar conhecimentos e apresentar as mais recentes tendências e soluções agrícolas que a nossa equipa tem desenvolvido.
Vai poder encontrar-nos no stand nº.18, à entrada do Espaço dos claustros, dedicado à Agenda InsectERA, entre as 10h e as 20h.
InnovPlantProtect (InPP) took part in the National Olive Growing Fair (FNO 25) in Campo Maior, from May 23 to 25, presenting its latest biological and digital innovations for crop protection, including projects focused on biopesticides for olive diseases and early detection of fungi that cause gafa, and monitoring insect vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which attacks olive groves. The Elvas CoLAB was present with its own stand to demonstrate its strengths and the impact of its research on agricultural sustainability, inviting producers, technicians and researchers to learn about its innovative bio-based and digital solutions and to actively participate in the discussion of the sector's challenges.
The collaborative laboratory (CoLAB) welcomed visitors at the stand no. 14, located at thematic area at the Campo Maior Municipal Garden, to showcase their activity, the ongoing projects that are developing solutions to the main olive diseases, the patents already submitted, the apps for agricultural management and the bio-based and digital products and services they have to offer the agricultural sector and the market. Throughout the three days of the fair, some of InPP's researchers were at the stand to demonstrate to visitors the various features of the Elvas CoLAB, which has been developing innovation that it hopes will contribute to the sustainability of agricultural systems.
InPP announced ValorCannBio project, which is processing biomass that is not used in the medical cannabis industry to develop effective and sustainable biopesticides against gafa and tuberculosis, The project will be carried out in the municipality of Elvas, which is responsible for decimating entire harvests, leading to severe economic losses and compromising food quality. The impact of this project will be felt in the municipality of Elvas, where the project is being developed, but it is expected that it will extend to the entire olive-growing region from Trás-os-Montes to the Algarve, where production losses are increasing due to these diseases. O AlViGen project was also one of the protagonists and is using cutting-edge technology to detecting and identifying the strains of fungi that cause gafa, long before the symptoms become visible. The project team has used traps to collect spores that circulate in the air to monitor the presence of fungi, which can give farmers an important advantage in preventing infections and protecting their crops, reducing production losses.
O SNM_XylellaVt project, The SNM_XylellaVt project, led by DRAPCENTRO and in which InPP actively participates, was also highlighted at FNO. SNM_XylellaVt is monitor the insect vectors of the bacteria Xyllela fastidiosa, in particular the foam leafhopper, the insect responsible for transmitting the bacterium, which attacks various agricultural and forestry crops, and in particular olive groves. The project team is developing new tools, such as risk prediction models which, in the presence of the bacterium, whether in plants or insect vectors, will allow the National Agricultural Warning Service (SNAA) to alert, in real time, about the economic attack levels (EAL) for these insects, thus allowing prevent infection of the main crops. As part of this project, the team has also developed an online platform where citizens can report the sighting of foams, which are signs of the presence of the insect vectors of X. fastidiosa, This will help to map its temporal and spatial distribution and to plan measures to combat this bacterium.
The FNO, organized jointly by the Campo Maior City Council and the Centre for the Study and Promotion of Olive Oil in the Alentejo (CEPAAL), is an event that aims to enhance national olive growing, and in particular Portuguese olive oil, boosting the local economy and bringing together professionals from the sector - producers, technicians, or researchers - from all over the country to discuss challenges and trends in the Portuguese olive and olive oil sector.
Farming is considered by many to be a traditional activity, carried out by hand and managed according to the dictates of the Borda d'Água. But is that really the case? Or is it an activity guided by scientific knowledge and which shows leaps in quality, sustainability and productivity when science is applied judiciously in agricultural fields?
This is the theme of the debate, organized by InnovPlantProtect (InPP), which will take place on National Scientific Culture Day, November 24, at 6pm, in the InPP Auditorium, in Elvas, and which brings together a CEO, António Serrano, a scientist, Rosário Félix, a science communicator, Cristina Nobre Soares, and an agricultural producer, Paulo Maria, at the same table to answer the question: “Does agriculture need Scientific Culture?”.
The debate will be moderated by Pedro Fevereiro, executive director of InPP.
Participation is open to all interested parties, subject to prior registration here.
Celebrate this day with us and come and enrich this debate by asking your questions.
The initiative is part of Science and Technology Week 2022, promoted by Ciência Viva, which runs from November 19 to 27 and celebrates science and technology at national level, with the aim of bringing science closer to society and promoting scientific and technological culture in Portugal.
On November 7, the executive director of InPP, Pedro February, took part in the first session of EDE-X - Entrepreneurial Discovery Spaces, a cycle of participatory events dedicated to technology transfer, R&D and innovation, promoted by National Innovation Agency (ANI), which took place in Évora, at the Alentejo Science and Technology Park.
The main objective of the initiative was the collaborative mapping of technology transfer, R&D and innovation models and processes in the context of smart specialization in Portugal.
This session was an opportunity to involve the entire innovation community in the construction of an operational governance model for the National Strategy for Intelligent Specialization (ENEI 2030), made up of multiregional thematic platforms, and a system for monitoring the dynamics of technology transfer in the areas of intelligent specialization.
ENEI 2030, approved in June, served as the motto for the discussion, in which participants were invited to contribute, through co-creation methodologies, to the definition of the lines of action that give shape to its six major priority areas: Digital Transition; Materials, Systems and Information Technologies; Green Transition; Society, Creativity and Heritage; Health, Biotechnology and Food; Major Natural Assets: Forest, Sea and Space.
(Re)watch the best moments of this session in the video available on ANI's YouTube channel here.
The EDE-X series of events was promoted within the framework of the Support System for Collective Actions - Transfer of Scientific and Technological Knowledge, TECH4INNOV, co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, under the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Programme (COMPETE 2020) of Portugal 2020.
AlViGen, coordinated by InnovPlantProtect, was one of the innovative pilot projects recently selected and funded under the 4th edition of the Promove Program.
The project “AlViGen: Creation of a hub in ALentejo for the GENomic VIgilance of diseases in agriculture”, led by InnovPlantProtect (InPP) in partnership with the University of Évora (WOW), is one of the winners of the 4th edition of the Promove Program (in the category of innovative pilot projects), financed by the La Caixa Foundation, BPI and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). This project will enable the InPP to create the capacity for early detection of multiple crop diseases, using molecular methods that make it possible to identify important characteristics of pathogens, such as virulence, susceptible varieties and resistance to phytopharmaceuticals, benefiting producers and government authorities.
AlViGen aims to create the first genomic surveillance center in the Alentejo, applied to important agricultural crop diseases, a unique structure at local and national level, with state-of-the-art equipment. Genomic surveillance, a methodology widely applied to the SARS-CoV2 virus (which causes COVID-19), makes it possible to characterize pathogens in detail down to the strain level, enabling the agricultural sector to obtain better information on crop pests and diseases, and to manage the means of control (e.g. pesticides) based on data, in order to reduce possible economic, social and environmental impacts.
Ricardo Ramiro, The InPP researcher responsible for the project explains that “the AlViGen project is important to us so that we can establish the conditions for applying genomic surveillance. Once these conditions are established, we will apply genomic surveillance to fungi in olive groves and wheat fields. We will identify which species of fungi are circulating in the air and also characterize the strains of two key fungi in these crops: Pucciniastriiformis f.sp. tritici (yellow rust on wheat) and Colletotrichum spp. (olive galls). This will allow early and rapid detection of strains of these fungi and some of their characteristics, including virulence and resistance to fungicides or pesticides.”.
“The information obtained could be used to prevent sharp losses in the production of these essential crops for the Alentejo region, which is the main producer at national level,” adds Rosário Félix, a UÉ professor also involved in the project.
In addition to bringing benefits to producers in crop management, the service provided by the AlViGen hub will also be of great interest to government entities or non-governmental organizations focused on protecting agricultural crops or biodiversity, since the genomic information produced makes it possible to identify pathways and routes of pest transmission, allowing authorities to implement policies that minimize the risks of transmission.
The AlViGen project is the result of an international collaboration with institutions in Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, bringing together research centers, companies, producer associations and public administration institutions. In addition to InPP and UÉ, the project includes the British research center John Innes Center, the National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), Spanish companies De Prado and Roma/Roma-Bio, the Agrupamento de Produtores de Cereais do Sul (CERSUL) and the General Directorate of Food and Veterinary (DGAV).
The fourth edition of the Promove 2022 competition received 29 proposals divided into three categories, with funding of over 3.6 million euros awarded to just 13 pilot projects across the Iberian Peninsula. The Promove Program aims to support innovative initiatives in strategic areas to boost the sustainable development of Portugal's inland and border regions and which can be replicated in other regions with similar characteristics.
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