Harnessing new technology to get most out of the land
Following the NFU conference in February, Business Secretary Greg Clark has announced that £90 million for agritech is to be made available - an enormous investment to spark innovation and to boost productivity of British farming.
The announcement could not have come at a more opportune time as farmers face uncertainly about how Brexit will affect support and subsidies.
Clark told delegates at the NFU's annual conference in Birmingham that since the mid-1990s productivity growth in UK agriculture and horticulture had lagged behind that of other countries. It had grown at just one third of the rate of the United States and the Netherlands.
The investment is part of Government’s strategy to transform food production and improve supply chain resilience.
As one of the most innovative sectors, the UK agritech sector already contributes £14.3 billion to the UK economy, employs 500,000 people and researches developing pioneering technologies. Mr Clark said that harnessing new technology could help improve productivity and the Government's £90 million funding would help to take new developments and inventions and put them to effective use on the land.
The investment will see the creation of an innovation accelerators hub that bring together farmers and growers, businesses, scientists, centres for agricultural innovation, to apply the latest research into farming practice.
Clark also commented, that the modern farmer already requires a multitude of skills from engineer, environmentalist, data scientist, bio-chemist, tourism entrepreneur and often inventor and as technologies grow, so too will workforce abilities as farmers are keen to learn, innovate and adapt to new farming methods.
He added that all of these skills are vital for successful farming, but that currently investment in these skills and for training fall short of competitors.
The agricultural sector is the biggest industrial sector in the UK, employing almost four million people and larger than the automotive and aerospace sectors combined. Farming is foundational, not only to the economy, but to our country. The funding forms one of eight key areas that the Government, together with business and academia, has identified through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund as being priority areas where research and innovation can help unlock markets and industries of the future in which the UK can become world-leading.
The latest project for Farm491, an agritech innovation hub, is its Inspiring AgriTech Innovation (IAI) programme. Based around a two-day boot camp, the initiative will deliver business support to agritech entrepreneurs and agritech SMEs with a business idea that brings innovative technology to agriculture.
Participants in the programme will receive advice on topics such as an introduction to agritech, identifying the need, product development, leadership, metrics, market research, prototyping, business structure and finance. Innovators can find out more about IAI by visiting the Farm491 website.
Verity Payne, Farm491
