San José, 24 March 2025 (IICA). The University of Costa Rica (UCR) has won the 2024 INNOVAGRO Prize in the category of technological innovation, awarded annually by the Network for the Management of Innovation in the Agrifood Sector (Red INNOVAGRO), whose technical secretariat is operated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
Created in 2014, the INNOVAGRO Prize is an international initiative sponsored by the INNOVAGRO Network, which promotes innovation in the agrifood sector and coordinates and promotes the work of network members. The network currently comprises 70 public and private sector organizations in 14 countries.
Members collaborate on research and development projects aimed at addressing challenges facing the agrifood sector, such as food security, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, productivity, and market relationships, in a challenging environmental, economic, social, and political context.
The UCR received the award for its development of biological tools for pest and disease control and for the nutrition of agricultural crops, an area of work in which its Agricultural Microbiology Laboratory, part of the UCR’s Agronomic Research Center (CIA), has been involved for 30 years.
The award was presented to Marena Chavarría, head of the CIA and the Agricultural Microbiology Laboratory, and Daniela Rodríguez, a microbiology and biocontrol official, at a ceremony held during an event entitled Sowing Talent: Boosting Science and Innovation in the Agrifood Sector in Europe and the Americas, held at IICA Headquarters in San José, Costa Rica. The activity brought together representatives from academia, research and innovation centers, technical cooperation agencies and other senior officials from 11 countries.
The event was attended by the President of the INNOVAGRO Network and of the University of Córdoba in Spain, Manuel Torralbo, and the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero.
“This acknowledgement is a validation of our efforts and will inspire us to continue working to achieve a fair, sustainable and innovative agriculture sector. Our institution does not regard technological innovation as an end in itself, but rather as a tool for addressing urgent challenges, such as food security and climate change. Projects like ours show how research can have a tangible impact in this field,” Chavarría emphasized upon receiving the award.
Rodríguez explained how over the years, through a biofactory, they have developed and marketed nine products for biofertilization and the biological control of pests and bacteria.
“We have biofertilizers that help improve the soil and extract some of the nutrients that plants need. We have a whole range of them that make it possible to biologically control pests, bacteria, and fungi. This has enabled us to produce inputs that enable producers to implement a complete application protocol without the use of chemicals, providing a novel, sustainable alternative that will help transform farming culture,” she suggested.
“At the international level, the minimal use of chemicals is being required, and this has led to progress in the field of biological control. This award is a feather in the laboratory’s cap because we have been working hard for 30 years, overcoming many obstacles, seeking more sustainable alternatives, envisioning a healthier future for consumers. It reflects what we do for the country’s communities and farmers,” she added.
For a more knowledge-intensive agriculture
At the ceremony, IICA Director General Manuel Otero emphasized the need for innovation of this kind and the importance of achieving more knowledge-intensive agriculture.
“At IICA, we believe that agriculture must be sustainable and knowledge-intensive, make use of fewer chemicals, be more nutritious, and place farmers at the center of the new sustainable development models, which harness digital technologies to achieve a better quality of life and are at the service of peace for our people. That is why INNOVAGRO’s award is so important; it draws attention to people who are doing things well, who believe in science and innovation,” he remarked.
Manuel Torralbo, President of the INNOVAGRO Network, highlighted innovation’s role in generating value: “Innovation helps generate new value chains. In this case, the innovation is the result of collaboration among different actors, is supported by solid, concrete, demonstrable arguments and indicators that reflect the results, and is highly original.”
“We must generate new knowledge that combines the capabilities and energy of all the actors to achieve the production and processing of food of sufficient quantity and quality, without causing environmental damage or depleting natural resources, and at the same time being profitable for the different stakeholders in the agrifood value chain,” he concluded.
More information:
Franklin Marín, Coordinator of IICA’s Center for Knowledge Management and Horizontal Cooperation Services
franklin.marin@iica.int
