As we enter the new year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Innovate UK have announced exciting funding competitions that are set to drive innovation in the UK agricultural sector. These competitions are open to UK registered businesses and cover a wide range of business criteria, from start-up projects to large-scale research and development, as well as environmental monitoring.
One of the funding competitions, called Research Starter round 4, is aimed at England-based farming, growing, or forestry businesses. With a total funding pool of up to £850,000, this competition is focused on feasibility projects that aim to enhance productivity, sustainability, resilience, and move the agricultural sector towards net zero. The competition is part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, in partnership with UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge delivered by Innovate UK. The goal is to investigate solutions that improve productivity, sustainability, resilience, and achieve net zero in the agriculture sector. The competition also prioritizes solutions that have positive outputs for farmers, growers, or foresters.
Another competition, called Large R&D Partnerships Round 3, offers UK registered businesses the opportunity to apply for a share of up to £7.8 million. This funding is specifically for large R&D partnerships projects that benefit farmers, growers, or foresters in England. The competition aims to address major on-farm or post-farmgate challenges and opportunities, develop commercially relevant solutions to improve productivity, profitability, and sustainability, and support and accelerate the R&D of scalable solutions that can be adopted industry-wide.
In addition to these competitions, Defra and Innovate UK, in partnership with UKRI, are investing up to £5 million in innovation projects centered around environmental monitoring. The Environmental Monitoring Innovation competition seeks to develop new sensing and monitoring capabilities, test and verify the accuracy and reliability of these capabilities, contribute to the growth of the UK environmental monitoring sector, and strengthen partnerships between academic, public, and private sectors. The funding is specifically focused on projects related to biodiversity and natural capital, soil health, water quality, greenhouse gas, and ammonia.
These funding competitions provide a significant opportunity for businesses in the agricultural sector to access financial support and drive innovation. By collaborating with end-users and the wider UK research community, these competitions aim to accelerate the development of effective new solutions that can have a positive impact on farmers, growers, and foresters. Moreover, the competitions align with the government’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions and promoting sustainability in the agricultural sector.
For businesses looking to take advantage of these funding opportunities, Agri-EPI offers a range of innovation services and support. With access to a diverse commercial farm network, business support, R&D support, and project management capabilities, Agri-EPI can help businesses at every step of the innovation journey. Whether it’s bid writing, research and engineering spaces, data collection, or project management, Agri-EPI is well-equipped to facilitate the development, testing, and commercialization of cutting-edge agricultural solutions.
In conclusion, the funding competitions announced by Defra and Innovate UK present an exciting opportunity for businesses in the agricultural sector to drive innovation and make a positive impact. With a focus on productivity, sustainability, resilience, and environmental monitoring, these competitions align with the government’s goals and provide financial support for businesses to develop and implement innovative solutions.
