To build on the success of the first government agri-tech strategy ten years ago, Agri-TechE is calling for a refreshed strategy to unlock potential in the agricultural and horticultural sectors.
The organisation’s Back to the Future report marks ten years of the not-for-profit and provides an overview of what is required to maintain momentum.
It includes responses from more than 70 contributors, including farming businesses, researchers, developers, investors and commercial service providers.
The report states that there is optimism for the next decade, but there are also challenges, including a changing investment landscape, difficulties in scaling solutions and businesses, a lack of secure revenue streams and regulators failing to keep pace with innovation.
Dr Belinda Clarke, director, says that the report shows a need for a new agri-tech strategy.
“The 2013 strategy engendered a lot of fresh thinking, energy, external investment and innovation in the agricultural and horticultural sectors,” she says. “But the sector is now in a very different place and needs new government focus to shape the future of agri-tech to enable it to help the sector meet new priorities.”
These include a greater emphasis on climate-smart agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which must align with on-farm productivity to help reverse biodiversity declines and maintain clean air and water.
She adds that the government should recognise that the sector delivers more than food and drink. It also includes ecosystem services and industrial feedstocks such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and raw materials for textiles and construction.
“We need the new government to deliver a strategy for agriculture and horticulture that recognises the industry as a key component of our bioeconomy,” Dr Clarke says. “This, in turn, will inform a refreshed agri-tech strategy as one of the key enablers of unlocking the industry’s potential.”
She stresses that clear policies will give clarity on the direction of travel and build confidence. “Well-defined, long-term sector strategies can lever private investment and provide a roadmap for innovation success. A new strategy for the next decade is needed.”
Challenges for the sector
Challenges highlighted in the report include how regulation is failing to keep pace with innovation, including the lack of clear guidance on the use of emerging products such as biologicals.
For investors, earlier engagement with regulators is vital, the report suggests.
Scaling also remains challenging, which could be eased with greater government support, potentially through subsidies or contracts. Added to this, developers are struggling to calculate the return on investment for farmers.
This is leading to some fatigue within the industry, as well as some solutions and companies failing to deliver on their own hype.
“We need to stop promising farmers that a technology is going to change the world tomorrow,” Dr Clarke stresses. “While some farmers are happy to be beta-testers, the majority want reliability and seek solutions that will work the first time.”
Despite challenges, the report shows that there is no shortage of new technology coming through. This includes conversational artificial intelligence which will answer questions for growers, as well as sensors to help indicate the needs of a plant, including nutrition.
Developments such as satellite imaging and GPS navigation, clean energy production through ground source heat pumps and anaerobic digestion, new lighting solutions, livestock wearables and metagenomic sequencing in plants, show how far the agri-tech sector has come.
“The agri-tech community is collectively very optimistic about the next decade, but a new agri-tech strategy would give the granular clarity to inspire further transformative innovations,” Dr Clarke concludes.