UK businesses can make connections and find out about £90 million investment to improve food and farming, as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

It is predicted that 60 percent more food will be needed worldwide by 2050 to feed the expanding global population. To meet this demand, the UK government has announced £90 million of new funding to help businesses, researchers and industry to transform food production.

This programme will be led by Innovate UK and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to:

• create ‘Translation Hubs’ that bring together businesses, farmers and academics to collaborate on research projects
• support innovation accelerators to explore the potential of new technology and speed up commercialisation
• launch a new research programme to identify and build on export opportunities overseas
• fund demonstrator projects that show how innovative agri-tech ideas can be applied in real-world settings

Potential projects could aim to reduce carbon emissions, reduce waste streams, reduce energy consumption, increase productivity, automate food production and harvesting.