Defra and Innovate UK support innovation in UK agriculture with new funding competitions
Defra and Innovate UK support innovation in UK agriculture with new funding competitions As we step into the new year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Innovate UK have announced new funding competitions, paving the way for more innovation in the UK agricultural sector. These funding competitions target UK registered businesses and cater to diverse business criteria, from start-up projects to large scale research and development, and environmental monitoring. Research Starter round 4 – EoI Opens: 18 th December 2023 Closes: 14 th February 2024 12:00pm England based farming, growing or forestry businesses can apply for a share of up to £850,000 for feasibility projects with an aim to enhance productivity, sustainability resilience and move the agricultural sector to net zero. This funding competition is a part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, in partnership with UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge delivered by Innovate UK. Competition aims: Investigate solutions for improving productivity, sustainability, resilience and achieving net zero in the agriculture sector. Prioritise solutions that have positive outputs for farmers, growers, or foresters. Accelerate the development of effective new solutions by collaborating with end-users and wider UK research community. Learn more about the research starter funding competition and the eligibility criteria here. Large R&D Partnerships Round 3 Opens: 15 th January 2024 Closes: 13 th March 2024 11:00am UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £7.8 million for large R&D partnerships projects focused benefiting farmers, growers, or foresters in England. This funding is from the industry-led R&D Partnership Fund, that is a part of the Farming Innovation Programme by Defra, in partnership with UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge delivered by Innovate UK. This funding competition seeks to: Address major on-farm or post-farmgate challenges and opportunities. Develop commercially relevant solutions to improve productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Support and accelerate R&D of scalable solutions that can be taken up industry-wide Learn about the scope and eligibility criteria of this funding competition here. Environmental Monitoring Innovation Opens: 22 nd January 2024 Closes: 6 th March 2024 11:00am Defra and Innovate UK, as part of UKRI are investing up to £5 million in innovation projects centred around environmental monitoring. This funding is in partnership with the Innovation in Environmental Monitoring programme and is looking to fund collaborative projects focused on Biodiversity and natural capital, soil health, water quality, Greenhouse gas and ammonia. Competition aims: Develop new sensing and monitoring capabilities. Test and verify new monitoring capabilities for accuracy and reliability. Contribute to the growth of the UK environmental monitoring sector. Strengthen partnerships between academic, public, and private sectors. You can find more information about the environmental monitoring funding competition here. Agri-EPI collaborates with technology innovators and developers to transform agri-tech ideas into viable products and services for commercialisation through our innovation services and skilled projects team. Our capabilities seek to support businesses at every step of the innovation journey, with access to our diverse commercial farm network, business support, and R&D support that includes bid writing and scoping, research and engineering spaces, data collection and project management. Our services help facilitate the development, testing and commercialisation of the latest cutting-edge agricultural solutions that are set to make wide-spread impact across the sector. Contact us here to get in touch with a member of our team who can help you secure your next funding opportunity.