Smart Farm Portugal Forum debates biodiversity, technologies, biological control

Biodiversity, soil strategies, biological control of pests and diseases, and digitized precision agriculture were the topics discussed at the Smart Farm Forum, which was exclusively covered by AgroPages.

This year’s event was organized by the Portuguese National Association of Plant Protection Industry (ANIPLA), under the theme, ″Safe Food, Agriculture and Technology.″

Held at the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal, the forum brought together professionals and industry representatives to discuss innovation and science related to ensuring safe food products in sufficient quantities.

The forum’s conclusion emerged in unison and was based on several arguments, which is ″modernization is synonymous with educating, training and sensitizing professionals in terms of considerable European pressure for the definitive transition towards ‘Agriculture 4.0’.″

Representing the Portuguese government was Ana Paula Garcia (Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Medicine, DGAV).

″It is a difficult thing to achieve and an increasing hard challenge to talk about, which is ensuring the availability of food. We have never had products with such richness and diversity and with the degree of security like we have now,″ she said.

However, Garcia stressed that the availability of inputs and food is still very uncertain, given the effects of war currently happening in Europe, as well as the restrictions on agrochemicals and fertilizers imposed by the European Union (EU).

″Industries and companies that bet on this development must continue working together, because agriculture needs, like never before, this investment and the emergence of new solutions,″ she added.

Luís Antunes (Vice President of ANIPLA) said that the Smart Farm Forum was an open dialogue on major current concerns about future agriculture.

Cátia Pinto, who is the executive secretary of Smart Farm Colab, a collaborative laboratory for digital innovation in agriculture, questioned the concept of Agriculture 4.0 and what it means to producers.

″There is fundamental work must be done, through providing technical support, training, education and awareness for producers, to help them implement these technological innovation system and enable them to modernize and progress together towards digital transition,″ she stressed.

At the end of the event, the debate focused on one of the main issues currently affecting the agricultural sector, professionals and industry, which is food safety.

Felisbela Torres de Campos (President of ANIPLA) explained that the current situation is very difficult at the European and global level, and in order to face the current challenges, ″innovation and technology in the agricultural sector″ are required.

″For the many challenges that lie ahead, and to positively contribute to the Green Deal Strategy, there has to be a more favorable regulatory environment, as well as more modern and disruptive technologies,″ she said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)