UK government invests $28m in AI, IoT and high-tech farming projects

 

The UK Government has invested $28 million in several high-tech farming projects, which are aimed at cutting down pollution, minimizing waste and producing more food.
 

The investment is part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy, for which the UK has committed to boost R&D spending to 2.4 percent of GDP by 2027.
 

The projects include Warwickshire-based Rootwave, which will use a $875,000 grant to use electricity instead of chemicals to kill weeds from the roots, avoiding damage to crops. Tuberscan, in Lincolnshire, will use $496,000 to develop ground penetrating radar, underground scans and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor potato crops and identify when they are ready to harvest. The government hopes the technology will increase the usable crop by an estimated 5 to 10%, as well as reducing food waste with minimal additional costs.
 

A project in Middlesex will use a $295,000 grant in a bid to help cows graze without farmer supervision by placing Internet of Things (IoT) sensors on farm gates that communicate with GPS trackers on cows to open and close gates allowing cattle to graze freely.
 

More than $1.5m has been granted for The First Fleet, which claims to have the world’s first autonomous multi-modal soft fruit robots. The system aims to transform robotic strawberry production from the laboratory bench to a commercially relevant system. Sheffield-based project aiScope will use a $1.27m grant to apply AI and analysis to tackle the common cereal weed blackgrass – it hopes to save farmers $735m a year.
 

Other projects include the use of AI to ensure only crops at greater risk of plant disease are treated with crop protection products, and in Northern Ireland there’s the promise of the world’s first platform for data to be input covering the beef supply chain. The hope is that by incorporating a number of different data feeds, disease can be better avoided, while there would also be improvements for business performance and product quality.
 

Organizations will benefit from $28m to develop their projects, with industry partners contributing a further $11m.
 

The UK government’s science minister Chris Skidmore announced a total of 31 projects which are dedicated to part of a $114m Industrial Strategy fund to help businesses, researchers and industry to transform farming and meet the needs of a growing population.
 

“The projects announced today will ensure we lead the way in supporting our vital farming industry, delivering high quality food for consumers while reducing the wider environmental impact,” he said.
 

“This is a key part of our modern industrial strategy, investing in ground-breaking projects, creating highly skilled jobs and providing a cleaner, greener future for generations to come,” he added.
 

It’s unclear how the UK government plans to monitor these projects and outcomes, and whether there is a time period by which they need to prove their worth.