The UK government has announced plans to invest £12.6m in agtech projects through two competitions.
It’s partnering with national innovation agency Innovate UK to deliver these Farming Innovation Programme competitions, which have been dubbed a “Dragon’s Den for farming”.
They aim to accelerate the research and development of technologies that can tackle some of the UK farming industry’s biggest challenges, such as rising costs, animal welfare and seasonal labour.
The first competition, called Small R&D partnerships, is targeted at businesses looking to bring new agtech products and services to market. With applications set to open on September 15th, it includes £7.8m of funding.
For businesses at the early stages of testing and developing new farming innovations, they can apply for the feasibility studies competition instead. Its applications will open on October 13th and will offer up to £4.8m of funding.
These competitions form part of the government’s national drive to improve the sustainability of farming and food production across the UK by injecting £11.8bn of funding into the industry over the course of the current parliament.
Farming minister Daniel Zeichner said in a statement that, as part of this agtech investment drive, the government would help investors “fund and develop new equipment and technology” in a bid to help “farms become more resilient, productive and profitable”.
The government also sees such investment packages as a way of implementing its so-called Plan for Change, a set of missions that underpinned the Labour manifesto in the 2024 General Election to bolster UK national infrastructure and other aspects of everyday life.
Zeichner said this was possible by “supporting farmers to adapt, compete and grow, whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead”.