Abstract
The innovation of agricultural systems management is a determinant factor that guarantees adaptation to a new paradigm of global economy, environmental protection, and social requirements. The conventional concepts of innovation, applicable to new products and processes, do not consider many characteristics of the agricultural sector, such as social innovation and innovation resulting from new or renewed processes. Nevertheless, the overall impact of innovation on yields, competitiveness, and value can be hampered by the limited understanding or misinterpretation of Agriculture Innovation paradigms. For instance, the Rural Development Program (RDP) applies a restrict concept of innovation, being unable to embrace the full range of activities intended to implement new practices within the framework of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). Stimulating innovation in agriculture demands a change in policy innovation of RDP in order to preserve natural resources and combine agricultural priorities and the rural environment with the concepts of innovation. This paper focuses on the different views of the concept of innovation within the Program of Operational Groups (OGs) of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI), analyzing the Portuguese case study of the Lis Valley Irrigation District whose main innovation objective was to achieve and implement new processes of water management aiming at the conservation of natural resources as well as sustainable social and economic agricultural development. The Portuguese experience highlights why the application of innovation in agriculture may not reach the desirable outcomes.
Highlights
Innovation is a key factor that can be used to overcome the main challenges brought about by global change—namely, the constraints posed by climate change on the Mediterranean Region, which would be muddled by water problems
This paper focuses on innovation characteristics, the development of a new water management process, and other factors requiring a set of measures interconnected with irrigation collective infrastructures, aligned with the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) and contributing to the European Union’s strategy of research and innovation within (OG) programs
The area of engineering and technology represents the largest area of investment, and agrarian sciences accounted for about 3% of the investment
Summary
Innovation is a key factor that can be used to overcome the main challenges brought about by global change—namely, the constraints posed by climate change on the Mediterranean Region, which would be muddled by water problems. Innovation in the agricultural sector is interlinked with a set of factors in which the implementation of new thinking models is implicit and represents the development of a set of technological, management, and socio-economic tools aiming at improving the living standards of society in a sustainable manner. Agriculture is one of those fields where the complexity level is high, and in the particular case of Portugal, this is the first time that a funding program has been designed to foster innovation. For these reasons, studying the program implementation provides an opportunity for a critical discussion that may be relevant for future initiatives worldwide
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