24.03.2021.

In the last evaluation exercise of Research Units (RU) under the responsibility of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), GreenUPorto presented its application to be recognized as a national RU. The acceptance of this RU by the international evaluation panel could not have been better, receiving in 2019 the maximum grade of “Excellent”.

In pursuit of its consolidation, at the end of 2020, following successful collaborations in the past, GreenUPorto joined the CITAB – Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences and formed the Institute for Innovation, Training and Sustainability of Agrifood Production (INOV4Agro), which had its status as an Associate Laboratory approved by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), for the next ten years.

INOV4Agro thus emerged with the mission of promoting the transition of the agricultural sector to sustainability, promoting precision and conservation agriculture (with a special focus on the horticulture value chain), contributing to the implementation of the sector’s necessary adaptations to climate change, increasing the attractiveness of low-density territories and promoting the optimization and valorization of endogenous resources. For this purpose, INOV4Agro will increase the capacity of new generations of growers and other stakeholders of the agrifood sector, providing them with the necessary scientific and technological background for the conversion of the sector.

With the coordination from CITAB, INOV4Agro is based on a governance structure that was designed to ensure equal representation of the two R&D units involved in the decision-making process, as well as to clearly demonstrate the commitment assumed by both in the implementation of the strategic plan presented for the next ten years.

This plan is structured in four thematic lines of investigation: 1) Efficiency in the use of resources and product quality; 2) Aquatic resources, soil health and food; 3) Value creation within local food systems and 4) Technological development and innovation. These research topics will be conducted by researchers from GreenUPorto and CITAB, who have already started to collaborate intensively in the organization and coordination of European consortia, to obtain European funds.