More than 80 countries have pledged to reach net zero emissions, with the UK and the USA setting 2050 as their target date. Farming and agriculture will play a huge role in achieving net zero emissions, with innovations in AgriTech leading the way to more sustainable practices that can help the agriculture sector attain its environmental goals.
From renewable technology and sustainable practices like carbon funding, innovations can help the agriculture industry meet the demands for food production while trying to cope with a changing climate. Let’s look at the innovations in AgriTech that could help the UK meet its net zero goals.
The National Farmer’s Union set the target in the UK to reach net zero in the agricultural sector in England and Wales by 2040. They set the three pillars for attaining net zero as:
Reducing emissions is the first pillar and can be done using various techniques to enhance a farm’s productivity, such as switching to electrically powered vehicles and delivering the same output from every farm by working smarter to use fewer inputs.
The second pillar is to improve land management and change the use of the land to capture carbon. Carbon farming can help a farm capture more carbon through initiatives like more hedgerows, trees, and woodland, enhancing soil organic matter and conserving existing carbon stores in grassland and pasture.
The third pillar focuses on boosting renewable energy and the broader bioeconomy by displacing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. It also focuses on capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through bioenergy and bio-based materials such as hemp fibre and sheep’s wool.
The above offers a strategy of what can help farmers reach net zero, but the industry will need to think outside the box. This is where AgriTech comes in.
There are strategies in place to push the UK agriculture industry to meet net zero goals, like the financial incentives proposed by the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS). However, AgriTech can help farmers reach sustainability goals and production needs.
Farmers need to produce the same quantity of food or more particularly with the current concerns in meeting the UK’s food demands and moving the UK towards self-sufficiency–but in more intelligent, more sustainable ways.
In a survey by finance company Propel, 76% of farmers surveyed said they are exploring high-tech equipment and renewable energy technology. Farmers embracing new AgriTech innovations don’t just see benefits in their bottom line, like better efficiency and reduced prices, but also sustainability and environmental benefits. AgriTech means farmers can reduce their water, nutrients, and fertiliser consumption, which benefits the surrounding ecosystems, like local rivers and groundwater.
Robotics, data-based digital and precision architecture, and renewable energy are all innovations that can change the farming game.
Innovation is happening everywhere, but let’s look at a few of the AgriTech highlights that could help British farmers meet their sustainability and productivity goals.
The Small Robot Company’s Dick the robot is the world’s first non-chemical weeding system used for cereal crops. Using the power and innovation of agricultural robotics, Dick destroys weeds at the individual plant level using high-voltage electricity. The Small Robot Company’s innovation shows that robotics and AI can offer alternative solutions for weed control and could pave the way to an alternative, herbicide-free method for farming.
This robotic device is the world’s first granular drone that can navigate in granular bulks. Crover can move through the stored grain to monitor their condition and reduce loss due to spoilage. It can also help avoid a drop in crop quality while allowing the agricultural industry to reduce losses during the long-term storage of grains. This innovative technology can help minimise food scarcity and lead to a more eco-friendly production chain by preserving more grain storage.
One issue with farming today is the land required for agriculture. This can cause issues like deforestation and habitat loss, but vertical farming could efficiently meet food demands with less land. The Innovation Agri-Tech Group patented their UK indoor vertical farming technology. They showcased their patented systems at their 10,000 square-foot aeroponics facility in Berkshire, which can grow the same amount of produce as a 40-acres open field farm. Plants are grown indoors under controlled conditions, using LED lights with targeted wavelengths for each crop and growth stage, while nutrients, water, temperature, humidity, and acidity are set to optimise growth, so crops are stronger and grow more quickly than on conventional farms.
Satellite imaging can be used to manage every square metre of a farm so that farmers can make smarter, data-driven decisions. The satellite Rhiza offers soil brightness mapping, biomass, pest and disease modelling, hyper-local weather data, growth stage prediction and yield protection. Rhiza is already being used for more than 50,000 hectares in the UK and other countries in Europe and Africa to make farming more efficient and data-driven.
Agrii offers a new soil moisture technology that gives multi-depth soil moisture information that allows farmers to use water more efficiently and optimise the yield and quality of the crops. The technology uses soil moisture probes and rain gauges fitted with a telemetry unit to deliver data to the cloud via a SIM card.
The Hover Bird from Falco Drone Technologies mimics bird flight and can be used by farmers in more remote landscapes to inspect crops. The drone can fly over a target like a bird and also go in for closer inspection. They can be fitted with multi-spectrum cameras, making them useful for the early detection of pests and crop diseases.
Farmers looking for a more sustainable way to get around their farms can try the electric Munro Mark 1, which has a 215 horsepower and 150-mile range. It can charge in 30 minutes and has a 1000kg payload.
With our background in engineering and our experience working with farmers and those in the agriculture industry, we can help advise you on the best innovations for your farm, and how you can make R&D claims, you can put back into new innovations. Many farmers are unaware of how their work already qualifies them for R&D tax claims, so you could get the funding you could put towards AgriTech innovations, which will also feed back into R&D claims.
We believe AgriTech is the future for farms and sustainability, which is why we are sponsoring GAIA, the Global Agritech International Assembly, so we can help bring investors and AgriTech entrepreneurs together to propel this exciting industry forward. The next event will take place on 25th ofOctober in London, and we’re excited to help make it happen.