Small and medium sized farming businesses can soon apply for a
share of £5 million in grant funding to scale up innovation in
the agriculture sector to increase sustainable food production,
drive progress to net-zero, improve farm resilience and support
nature recovery.
Opening later this month, the Farming Innovation Investor
Partnership Competition will accelerate agricultural research and
development by blending grant funding with private investment. It
specifically seeks to support pioneering projects across the
agricultural sector that have demonstrated the potential to grow
and generate revenue, supporting the commercialisation of on-farm
technologies that can then be rolled out across the industry.
It represents an extension of the £270m Farming
Innovation Programmewhich has already committed over £100m to
support earlier stage R&D projects working on cutting-edge
agricultural technologies. Examples of these projects include
autonomous livestock monitoring systems, robotic fruit harvesting
systems, concentrated light weeding using AI, intelligent robotic
cow cubicles and digital crop management for the early detection
of glasshouse pests and diseases.
Projects are encouraged to apply from across the livestock,
arable, horticulture, bioeconomy and agroforestry sectors and
should focus on solutions that support productivity,
environmental sustainability, progression towards net zero
emissions and farming resilience. Projects can bid for up to 45%
of project costs in grant funding which must be matched by at
least twice the amount in private investment. There is no limit
to the level of private investment for projects, and previous
schemes have shown the ability to attract significantly higher
levels of investment.
Farming Minister said:
Supporting a resilient, sustainable and innovative agriculture
sector that puts food on our tables while safeguarding the
environment is my priority, and we are working with farmers to
deliver this through our new farming schemes and grants.
By bringing together cutting-edge agri-innovation and public and
private investment, we can unlock new technologies that help make
our farm businesses as productive as possible.
This contributes to the delivery of the Prime Minister’s priority
to grow the economy and follows the first ever ‘Nature Finance’
event held at 10 Downing Street in June which brought together
farmers, land managers, investors and conservation experts to
help farmers identify new investment opportunities and address
barriers to mobilise private investment for nature’s recovery.
It also delivers on commitments made at the UK Farm to Fork
Summit in May to boost growth, innovation and improve
sustainability across the food supply chain in order to keep the
nation fed while delivering nature recovery for our countryside.
The competition – funded by Defra, run in partnership with UK
Research & Innovation (UKRI) and delivered by Innovate UK –
opens for applications on Monday 24 July. By supporting projects
at the later-stage of innovation, the competition is expected to
drive increased commercialisation and adoption within the
industry, and also aims to elevate the profile of the agri-tech
sector by positioning it as a central focus for UK investors.
In order to apply, projects must be led by a sole UK registered
micro, small, or medium-sized business and exhibit clear and
tangible connections to farmers, growers, agri-businesses, and
other potential end-users. Investors for the programme will be
selected from the pool of Innovate UK Investor Partners which
currently comprises 80 partners and growing.
