Multi-million pound boost for innovation in agricultural technology
A new Agri-Tech Catalyst has been launched, to help businesses and researchers develop innovative solutions to global challenges in the agricultural technology (‘agri-tech') sector.
Agricultural science and technology is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. It is driven by global changes: a rising population, climate change, the rapid development of emerging economies, and growing geopolitical instability around shortages of land, water and energy.
Breakthroughs in nutrition, informatics, satellite imaging, remote sensing, meteorology and precision farming mean that there are also many opportunities in this area.
And with agri-tech already a well-established and important sector in this country, the UK is well-placed to make the most of these opportunities.
That is the vision of the government’s recent UK Strategy for Agricultural Technologies, which aims to put the UK at the forefront of the sustainable intensification of agricultural production.
But to bring this about, businesses and researchers need to work together better, to develop innovative technologies and processes.
That is where the new Agri-Tech Catalyst comes in. With some £70m of government funding, the Agri-Tech Catalyst, which has been set up by the Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, will help to commercialise UK agricultural innovation, bridging the so called ‘valley of death’ between the lab and the marketplace.
The Agri-Tech Catalyst offers funding for collaborative projects, taking innovative ideas from any sector or discipline with the potential to provide an economic boost to the UK agri-tech industry, by tackling challenges in agriculture.
These challenges may be domestic or international: funding for the Agri-Tech Catalyst includes an element specifically targeted at contributing to international development.
The Agri-Tech Catalyst will help to take innovations all the way from concept to commercialisation, awarding grants for early-stage pre-industrial research feasibility studies, industrial research, and late-stage pre-experimental and experimental feasibility studies. Any UK business or academic researcher can apply.
Find out more about the Agri-Tech Catalyst competitions:
Early-stage awards
Industrial research awards
Late-stage awards
