(2)INIAV
Developing an integrated vision for agricultural practices, food production and forestry management is more urgent than ever. Several national and international organisations have advocated this, translating it into different strategic approaches. However, it is clear to us that policy and technology development must be at the heart of the practical implementation of any strategic vision. Moreover, any of the policy, economic, environmental, or social goals we must ensure towards a liveable and sustainable future for generations to come, depend on our capacity to develop and deliver adequate technological solutions. There is no credible or feasible compromise between the world as we know it and adequate levels of investment in research and innovation. The mission is urgent and alignment of priorities at every level is crucial, from EU level policy and funding to regional or even institutional level management, as well as R&I agenda-setting.
Take, for example, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Strategic Framework 2022-2031, which aims to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and better living conditions through the transition to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, agri-food systems, with principles of social inclusiveness, and leaving no one behind. Or the Green Deal, developed as an integral part of the European Commission strategy to simultaneously address EU economic competitiveness, implement the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals. The Green Deal is the epitome of how complex and grand are today’s challenges. It is perceived as a new growth strategy aiming at a future resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. A huge step and a dramatic change to our cultural, economic, and political bias, achievable only through technological solutions that are yet to be developed and made available to everyday citizens and industry. This is an effort that requires a multi-level approach and alignment of priorities, as well as an unprecedented collaborative capacity among the different stakeholders in regional and national R&I ecosystems and value-chains.
In our home country, Portugal, the new “Innovation Agenda for Agriculture”, being implemented by the Portuguese Government with the support of stakeholders - is aligned with the Green Deal, the FAO Strategic Framework and the United Nation’s 2030 sustainable development goals. Considering the specificities of southern Europe and the climate change effetcs in the Mediterranean area, this national agenda addresses the main challenges on the horizon, by granting a pivotal role to knowledge and technology, while focusing on regional specific conditions.
Let’s take this opportunity to further explore this. First and foremost, the paramount digitalisation of food systems will be crucial to the competitiveness and sustainability of organisations, and to how countries prepare to address the main challenges in this field. Similarly to human systems, the ability to improve the health (sustainability) of the target land, water, agri and food (LWAF) systems depends on the ability to monitor, diagnose (assess), prescribe (manage) and implement treatment (restoration) protocols.
Considering that, over the next few years, we will need a dramatic increase in food production, while facing the significant impact of climate change and emergent and re-emergent diseases, together with the lack of work force in the fields, among others, the solutions available today are clearly insufficient.
Therefore, we must explore two main complementary areas: provide new solutions and reinforce the capacity-building of farmers, technical staff and organisations.
Regarding new solutions, we emphasise biotechnology, plant and animal breeding (development of molecular markers associated with physiological traits and new phenotyping tools) and the use of digital technologies to ensure:
a) Smart monitoring.
b) Intelligent planning and control.
c) Transparency, accountability, and security.
For example, real-time and remote diagnoses and sensorization, the development of high throughput phenotyping and the improvement of traceability and biosecurity are areas of core interest. Other important dimensions demanding a high level of computational competencies, translated into end-user friendly applications, are irrigation management (crop coefficients, water status indicators and quantification of water stress intensity); diagnosis of plant nutritional status and early detection of diseases; and use of digital technologies in livestock farming to improve performance and blockchain-based solutions – all of them key areas of research.
The capacity-building of farmers, technical staff and organisations is a critical success factor to the adoption of new solutions. Processes of upskilling and reskilling must be implemented on a larger scale and focus on specific needs of the agriculture and food sectors.
Experimental facilities and pilots for the development, test, and demonstration of different solutions will be crucial for achieving a large-scale adoption of innovative products and practices.
In Portugal, we are developing a network of experimental stations (local field testing and living labs) to reinforce the national capacity for innovation in agriculture and food.
Simultaneously, we are strengthening the connection between research and innovation, experimentation and development of innovative applications focused on solving concrete needs. This is done through innovative organisational approaches towards increased proximity and interaction between the research performing organisations, private companies and other stakeholders. Competence Centres (i.e. National Center for Technological Innovation Skills in the Agroforestry Sector - InovTechAgro)(1) and Collaborative Laboratories (i.e. Smart Farm Collaborative Laboratory)(2), where both INIAV and INESC TEC collaborate, are good examples of this effort.
In sum, if we are to effectively address both the challenges that are common to us all, i.e., already identified in the Green Deal and all its “sub-strategies” and policies, and those that are region specific, we must ensure 1) a multi-level political and institutional alignment and complementarity of policy objectives; 2) clear synergies of funding instruments; 3) understand that the complexity of the challenges demands a much higher investment in R&I, at both public and private levels, but most of all, a co-created, integrated vision of the future policy priorities and R&I efforts that holds life and the planet itself as the main priority.