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Research Spotlight
The Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire region is already a major UK production centre for crop-based agriculture and the associated supply chain. Its significance and sheer scale has led to the establishment of a nationally renowned agri-tech cluster, centred on the Universities of Lincoln and Cambridge, where interdisciplinary agri-food innovation is focused on digital technologies, including robotics and artificial intelligence, to boost productivity.
Now, a £4.9 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) can help to deliver a step change in activity and fund the drive to make the LINCAM region a global innovation centre for agricultural technology.
The Place Based Impact Acceleration Account (PBIAA) award from the EPSRC – the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK – will be used to help make LINCAM an agri-tech gateway for the world, enabling the development of technologies at industrial scale and providing export opportunities for agri-tech companies and inward investment opportunities within both the agri-tech and primary production sectors.
Challenges are acute across this region but this funding award offers an opportunity to harness agri-tech to secure sustainable growth, bringing high-value and skilled jobs to the region, whilst mitigating the serious environmental impacts of the food production system.
Professor Simon Pearson
Director of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology
Professor Simon Pearson, founding Director of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT), said: “The LINCAM agricultural sector supports 88,000 jobs, generates gross value added (GVA) of £3.8 billion and farms more than 50 per cent of the UK’s grade 1 land. However, despite this scale, there are still significant challenges and opportunities.
“Food production accounts for 24 per cent of all UK greenhouse gas emissions, leads to significant biodiversity losses, and drives challenging social issues – not least from seasonal worker influxes to rural communities. In addition, farmers are under relentless cost pressures which are eroding supply chain equity and local economies."
The University of Lincoln has a long track record of agri-tech collaboration with the University of Cambridge and its commercialisation arm Cambridge Enterprise. Their work has included the setting up of Agriforwards CDT – the world’s first EPSRC centre for doctoral training (CDT) in agri-food robotics.
The LINCAM Ceres Agri-Tech cluster is pleased to announce that calls for Projects Awards and Proof of Concept Awards are now open for applications. The awards are designed to support the translation and commercialisation of crop based agri-tech research using the established Ceres Agri-Tech approach.
LINCAM will build on the success of their Ceres agri-tech partnership with three other leading UK universities and three renowned agricultural research institutes. Ceres, funded by Research England, provides translational funding and commercialisation expertise to drive agri-tech innovation by accelerating high-quality research to market. It has launched four agri-tech spin-out companies to date and created 13 licensing opportunities.
LINCAM will broaden participation in the cluster by offering access to the EPSRC funding to all UK higher education institutes involved in agri-tech research with the potential to drive economic and environmental or social sustainability in the region. Projects that are successful in securing a share of the funding will be actively mentored by the LINCAM team to accelerate the delivery of results.
The civic bodies involved in the LINCAM partnership include the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, and West Lindsey District Council.
The University of Lincoln has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its work supporting the success and sustainability of the UK’s food and farming industries. Find out more about the groundbreaking research taking place at our Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology.
Prof Pearson is Director of LIAT and Professor of Agri-Food Technology. His research interests include agri-technology applications such as robotic systems, automation, energy control and management, food safety systems, and novel crop development.
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