InovaAgro is an EMBRAPII unit accredited to work in Agriculture Technology, focusing on Technologies for crop protection, crop production, quality grains and equipment, agricultural machinery, and irrigation.
The InovaAgro unit has an extensive experience with industrial technological development in:
- a) Methods to control weeds, pests, and diseases, including RNA interference tools;
- b) Systems for the application of pesticides;
- c) Development of new defensive plant formulations;
- d) Diagnostic methods and sensors to detect biotic and abiotic stress in plants;
- e) Products to mitigate biotic and abiotic stress in plants;
- f) Plant growth stimulators and regulators;
- g) Development of intelligent fertilizers;
- h) Development of bioinputs for plant nutrition;
- i) Seed production and quality technologies;
- j) Grain production and quality technologies;
- k) Development of innovative products using biotechnology tools, including gene editing.
- l) Development of machinery and equipment;
- m) Development of autonomous tractors for agriculture use; and
- n) Intelligent systems for irrigation control.
The infrastructure located at the Capão do Leão Campus of UFPel has research and technological development laboratories with several solutions for analysis, development of processes, and products and is composed of the following laboratories and centers:
- Weed Science Research Group https://wp.ufpel.edu.br/ceherb
- Department of soil and plant nutrition
- Laboratory of Cognition and Plant Electrophysiology
- Center for Genomics and Phyto-improvement
- Laboratory of Agricultural Machinery and prototypes https://wp.ufpel.edu.br/nimeq/
- Integrated laboratories in Grain Post-harvest
- Laboratories of the Center in Seed Science and Technology
Proponent team
The research group making up this proposal has outstanding performance in the line comprising it, with management experience, fundraising, and history of partnership with industries:
- Prof. Maurício de Oliveira – General Director of the Unit
- Prof. Edinalvo Camargo – Deputy Director
- Prof. Gustavo M. Souza – Researcher
- Prof. Dirceu Agostinetto – Researcher
The InovaAgro Unit has its headquarters at the Federal University of Pelotas, in the Eliseu Maciel Agronomy Faculty (FAEM), which has developed agriculture and agroindustry technologies for more than 137 years. In addition to its historical competence, UFPel has the Conectar business incubator (https://wp.ufpel.edu.br/conectar/), based in the Pelotas Technological Park (http://pelotasparquetecnologico.com.br) and the Food Innovation Pole in the South, and also operates in APL Alimentos.
