# Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Case Study of Lis Valley Irrigation District, Portugal
###### 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. innovation; operational groups; Vale do Lis; RDP; AKIS +
Footnote †: journal: Journal of the Royal Society of London, Series B (Statistical Methodology)  
1  
[PERSON], M.  
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. According to the European 2020 strategy (Horizon 2020), European Union (EU) countries are encouraged to increase investments in research and development (R&D) so that by 2020 it may represent 3% of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), allowing for an EU increase of around 3.7 million new jobs [2]. R&D plays an extremely important role in productivity, competitiveness, and value, and is central to the construction of the European vision and strategies towards the future; however, the implementation of such vision and strategies in some areas may arise conceptual problems due either to their complexity or to the lack of experience in implementing innovation management systems. 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. As part of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), innovation is expected to be encouraged in Portugal by a set of sub-programs, namely CAP Area 1A, for the particular measure 16.1 (OGs). An OG case study was analyzed, highlighting the dichotomy between the concept and practice of innovation in agriculture to pinpoint the difficulties in steering innovation in agriculture. This paper associates innovation and the agri-food market in Portugal with the purpose of linking innovation in agriculture with research and innovation challenges. The way that innovation, over the value chain of the agri-food system, increased farmers' profitability in a more sustainable way by using resources more efficiently will also be considered. This is of paramount importance to an economy willing to be more circular [3] and that is attentive to market evolution.