A £17.8 million investment in the fourth round of the Agri-tech Catalyst will fund 21 pioneering projects to improve agriculture and food production at home and overseas. This includes a scheme to commercialise the farming of lobsters, a proposal to cultivate scallops on ropes and a way of making whisky more efficiently by using novel wheat.
The 'Cocoa Farm of the Future', based in Ghana, will help produce cocoa yields ten times higher than the global average, benefitting farmers and producing high-quality chocolate.
A Scotch Whisky project will use novel methods to improve the quality of UK wheat so it can be used in world-class whisky.
In the South-West lobster specialists are developing the technology required to grow the crustaceans at sea, in containers that do not require feed-inputs.
Scientists aim to improve hydroponic growing methods for crops such as tomatoes. They will use a new sensor to better control the release of fertiliser into water.
In Dorset a new research project aims to discover the best way to grow Great Scallops on ropes. This could highlight the advantages of rope growing to British seafood producers.
A project to harness the potential of vertical growing will focus on growing pak choi. This could increase yields by up to 3.5% while reducing costs.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Keith (Flickr)
"We want to make the UK the best place in Europe to innovate. The projects for which we have announced support today, demonstrate the wealth of talent and creativity across industry and research. The organisations working in this exciting sector are helping to shape the future of agriculture and deliver benefits for consumers and the economy."
George Freeman, Minister for Life Sciences
For more information and details of the other projects visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pioneering-projects-in-food-and-agriculture-win-178-million
