£50m of funding unveiled for agri-tech innovation

The government has announced a £50m investment package aimed at accelerating agri-tech innovation into practical use on farms, with the aim of boosting productivity and cutting input use.

The funding will support up to 12 technologies spanning robotics, artificial intelligence, biological crop protection and forestry tools. Several of these technologies focus on delivering practical, nature-based solutions for farmers.

It includes about £8m in government funding and £40m from private investment, alongside a further £5m “springboard” round planned for 2026-27 to support the next generation of high-potential agri-tech businesses to scale up and deliver for farmers.

See also: Opinion: Agri-tech must earn its place on-farm

Speaking at the Agricultural Engineers Association Conference in London on Tuesday 14 April, Defra farming minister Dame Angela Eagle said the programme would help bring technology onto farms more quickly.

“Farmers know the right tools can make all the difference,” she said. “This investment is about getting practical, proven technology into their hands faster – whether that’s improving animal health, cutting costs or making day-to-day jobs easier.

“By backing innovation with both public and private funding, we’re supporting farm businesses to boost productivity, strengthen resilience and help secure the future of British agriculture.”

Projects supported

Among the projects backed is FA Bio, which is developing a “living” biopesticide using beneficial fungi to protect wheat and oilseed rape from pests, including aphids and cabbage stem flea beetle, aiming to reduce reliance on chemical sprays.

Another is Rhizocore, which is working to identify native fungi to improve tree establishment and survival in forestry and agroforestry systems, with potential benefits for carbon capture and woodland recovery.

Rhizocore founder and chief executive Toby Parkes said: “The investor partnership grant will accelerate our data collection on the performance of different fungi in different soil environments.

“This data will enable us to improve our products by selecting the right fungi for our customers’ sites, resulting in more trees surviving and growing faster, increasing the ROI we return to our customers and the benefit our products provide to the environment.”

Innovate UK head of agri-food Chris Danks said the scheme was helping turn innovation into commercial deployment.