As the Agri-Tech Centres gear up to start a new and unified era as UK Agri-Tech Centre, Harry Langford reflects on how the Landscape has changed, the innovation activity and impact in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).
Dr David McNaughton, the Managing Director of Soya UK, has over 30 years of commercial and scientific experience in the seed industry. In this interview, we discuss his background, his honorary doctorate from the Institute of Agriculture of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences
The UK food system is a force for good, but the way it works together and is supported has to improve. This was the central message of the 23rd annual City Food & Drink Lecture.
The AgriSynth project represents an innovative approach within the agricultural sector, using synthetic images for machine learning to change how agricultural AI solutions are developed
The UK Agri-Tech Centre is working with an innovative start-up Debye Ltd. to develop and trial its ground-breaking system, which simulates lightning’s ability to capture nitrogen in the form of nitrates when it strikes water.
An innovative project titled ‘Smarter Forecasting, Communication and Management of Frost Risk in Vineyards’ has secured over £300,000 in funding from Innovate UK and Defra.
We speak with the founder of CODE-AI and introduce CropOrigin, an AI-based tool for sophisticated biological fingerprinting of food, moving beyond traditional barcodes.
The UK Agri-Tech Centre has taken steps in fostering collaboration with Spain to address challenges & promote sustainable development in agriculture, agroforestry, food and aquaculture.
The UK Agri-Tech Centre were at the York headquarters, to meet local MP, agri-tech supporter and farmer, Julian Sturdy. Julian is a member of the House of Commons Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee and chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture. Future Plans We were proud to report our achievements since our establishment in 2015/6, to outline our plans to merge and our future ambitions as a single organisation to create innovative solutions to the sector’s most critical challenges. Since establishing in 2015/6 the UK Agri-Tech Centres, previously CHAP, CIEL and Agri-EPI Centre, have created networks comprising experts and industry involving more than 450 organisations, including research institutes, SMEs and multinational companies. UK Agri-Tech Centre employs ca. 130 expert staff, have invested in world-class facilities through support from Innovate UK across the UK – covering all agri-food sectors – and has been involved in bringing valuable innovations to the marketplace, with many more in the pipeline. Challenges facing the agri-food sector The challenges facing the UK and global agri-food sector are complex and critical. Food and farming are influenced by economic, climate and policy pressures, and innovation and adoption remain a challenge. Four main trends underline the urgent need for the generational change required in UK and global agricultural production and will drive the new organisation’s strategy: It takes a long time to bring agri-tech innovation to the marketplace and the sector requires long-term investment to de-risk the process. The agri-food sector does not have the luxury of time to develop innovative solutions. How we must respond To respond to these complex and interlinked challenges, whilst driving sustainable economic growth we must integrate technologies to create globally competitive systems, create new agri-tech for scale-up and ensure the appropriate skills are available for the future. UK Agri-Tech Centre will continue to work in partnership with industry and wider stakeholders to connect the innovation system, deliver world-leading agri-innovations that sustain the environment and society and maximise global opportunities. If you have any questions about Julian Sturdy or have any general enquiries about UK Agri-Tech Centre, please contact info@ukagritechcentre.com
Phil Bicknell, CEO, the UK Agri-Tech Centre: The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act, which came into being in 2023, is a key piece of post-Brexit legislation that shows how the UK has been able to liberalise agri-tech rules. It supports gene-editing to match the kind of genetic changes that would have occurred over years through traditional breeding methods, effectively speeding things up. Future challenges mean that we’re going to need more rapid and focused genetic improvement than traditional methods have provided for plants and animals. There have already been research advances with flu-resistant poultry due to gene-editing. The second important change, which is in progress, is that the Regulatory Horizons Council has taken a cross-sector look at areas where it can facilitate innovation through regulatory change. One of the most important is around use of robotics and autonomous vehicles. We’re probably all familiar with the challenges of getting labour on-farm, whether employing people to pick fruit and veg in the fields or just getting hold of tractor drivers. So anything that facilitates the use of more robotics on-farm and a future with more autonomous vehicles carrying out routine tasks makes sense. Innovation tends to be ahead of regulation, so sometimes it’s a case of playing catch-up. That’s one of the most important things about three Agri-Tech Centres, CHAP, CIEL and Agri-EPI, coming together and being a conduit for helping the government identify where post-Brexit regulatory changes would have the most valuable impact, whether unlocking further research or facilitating uptake and adoption. Our new merged business will drive responsible agri-innovation at unprecedented levels, securing society’s supply of food, fuel and fibres and stimulating economic growth for the UK and beyond. We are already working on a range of ground-breaking ideas and transformational research projects; our impact in this area will gather pace as a single organisation. Key to the successful creation and adoption of innovation is timely, proportionate and clear regulation which is well communicated. New technology is a big investment, especially for small business and start-ups; any degree of uncertainty stalls confidence, but good regulation sparks a willingness to invest. Supporting case study:Labour shortages, climate change and increasing pressure on productivity in agriculture can only realistically be addressed by increasing automation and digital technology. The Antobot, a robot and app that harnesses AI, transforms UK fruit farm businesses with accurate apple, strawberry and grape yield estimation, real-time crop management and increased resource efficiency, supporting businesses to manage the impacts of climate change on their crops. Soft fruit picking is a key robotics development area, not least as it is difficult to perfect. If you have any questions post Brexit challenges or have any questions, please contact us via info@ukagritechcentre.com
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