Agriculture’s ‘Silicon Valley’ at heart of precision farming

Barely a month seems to pass these days without another high-tech start-up company promising to revolutionise the world of agriculture.

Precision farming, agricultural technology and data driven applications seem to have captured the imagination of scientists and entrepreneurs like never before – with potentially big rewards at stake in the race to feed a growing global population.

East Anglia has long been at the forefront of farming, certainly since the original agricultural revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Today, it is at the forefront of another revolution, centred on the A11 that runs between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

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With world-renowned research bases in Cambridge and Norwich – and globally acclaimed food, farming, engineering and IT sectors – the A11 corridor has been likened to a Silicon Valley for agriculture – with the potential to pioneer a new low input, high output industry.

Huge benefits

That is certainly the belief of Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman, who helped launch the government’s agri-tech strategy back in 2013. A major policy shift that supports modern high-tech farming could bring huge benefits for East Anglia, the UK and the world, he says.

“The Norwich-Cambridge corridor has the potential to become in agri-tech what Cambridge has become in biomedicine – a world class ‘cluster’ of research, innovation, high growth companies and exciting new career opportunities.”

The concept of a growth corridor is not new. Probably the first and most widely recognised is California’s Silicon Valley in the early 1970s – highlighted in a recent report published by Norfolk County Council, which hopes to emulate that success closer to home.

The creation of an A11 technology corridor – with the aim of securing substantial economic growth, focusing on advanced manufacturing, engineering and agritech – could create up to 14,900 jobs and generate £558m in additional gross value added, says the document.

The corridor is already home to several agri-tech start-ups – as well as established and world renowned agri-research institutes, including the John Innes Centre, the Institute for Food Research and the National Institute for Agricultural Botany (Niab).

Favourite place

Some research centres have been here longer than others. While Cambridge seems to be the favourite place for start-ups, this year marks the 50th anniversary since the John Innes Institute moved from Hertfordshire to its present home on the outskirts of Norwich.

Known as the John Innes Centre since 1994, it has since grown into a global centre of excellence in plant and microbial science. A report by Brookdale Consulting in 2013 estimated that JIC wheat research alone contributes £400m to the UK economy and £8.7bn to the global economy annually.

The institute now houses world class scientific equipment and employs over 300 staff. JIC’s research facilities and its reputation for excellence have meant that Norwich has become home to some of the best plant and microbial scientists in the world.

The centre has gained much from being based in Norwich, says JIC director Dale Sanders – including collaborations with other nearby research institutes, the Norwich Research Park, and from its relationships with local communities, businesses, schools and colleges.

Best scientists

“Our world leading status means we are able to attract the best scientists from all over the globe to live and work here. We have 41 different nationalities of staff at JIC, who have contributed to the richness and diversity of Norwich and the region.”

But it is important to recognise the work of agri-research institutes outside the corridor too. Rothamsted Research, for example, based at Harpenden, Hertfordshire. Further afield, places like the Moredun Research Institute are also undertaking world class agricultural research.

The long-established research axis between Cambridge and Norwich is a great core on which to build, says Belinda Clarke, director of Agri-Tech East, which brings together farmers, researchers and entrepreneurs within the agri-tech sector.

“Cambridge and Norwich are both major research epicentres, but in terms of the growers, farmers and innovative business, they really spill out from those two cities and there are a huge number of farmers up and down the A11, across the fens and beyond,” she adds.