UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have announced their R&D collaboration for a new funding opportunity: Farming Innovation Pathways.

The competition will be delivered through UKRI’s ISCF Transforming Food Production challenge fund, aimed at developing new and existing farm-focused innovations.

According to UKRI, Farming Innovation Pathways will aim to ensure a practical translation of leading research in agriculture, so that it can directly benefit farmers and support them to address the challenges of productivity, sustainability, and net zero emissions in UK farming.

Funded through Defra’s Future Farming & Countryside Programme, this £12 million scheme will aim to bring together farmers, growers and businesses in order to enable them to develop novel technological solutions.

“We want to see farmers manage their businesses in a way that delivers profitable food production and the recovery of nature, using the best modern technology available today.”

Victoria Prentis, Defra Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, said: “The Farming Innovation Pathways competition offers farmers and growers the opportunity to see their bold and innovative ideas become reality, and to drive forward green growth in the sector.

“We want to see farmers manage their businesses in a way that delivers profitable food production and the recovery of nature, using the best modern technology available today. Promising innovations such as robotics and automation, and novel food production systems have the potential to transform business performance for our farmers and help them address some of the industry’s greatest challenges.”

The fund will be split into two parts, with £5 million being attributed to feasibility projects, which will evaluate the potential of early-stage ideas or innovations that tackle on-farm challenges, that could lead to further R&D to develop ideas into technically and commercially feasible solutions.

A further £7 million will be reserved for industrial research to develop novel high-potential solutions targeting real issues affecting farmers, growers and other agribusinesses.

Katrina Hayter, challenge director for UKRI’s Transforming Food Production challenge, added: “Working alongside Defra for this competition will ensure a coordinated approach to support innovation to help drive future green growth and develop a world-leading sustainable agricultural sector. There are many new individual solutions for the farming sector, but strong engagement with farmers in the innovation process ensures that these solutions can be quickly deployed within an agricultural production system.

“It is also really important that we can demonstrate the benefits of these solutions to farmers and growers, as well as the wider industry. There are many economic and environmental challenges facing the agriculture sector in the UK and further afield. In this context, it is vital that we work with innovators and farmers to ensure good ideas and new technologies have clear routes to adoption, effective business benefits for users and the ability to improve longer-term productivity and sustainability of the sector.”