As we move into the final week of the general election, rhetoric from both parties has shifted towards backing business and backing industrial champions. One of these should be AgriTech.
AgriTech is the use of science, technology and digital tools in agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture. It is an emerging global industry and an increasingly important sector for the UK. The East of England has the second highest proportion of AgriTech businesses among all regions and nations in the UK and a competitive advantage in ‘AgriScience’ relative to the UK as a whole.
Earlier this year the Eastern Powerhouse held an event, at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) in Cambridge, to discuss what is needed from a new government to help realise the opportunities in the sector.
We have produced a short paper, which provides a summary of the discussion and an overview of AgriTech in the East of England.
AgriTech is key to food production. It is vital to the future competitiveness of farmers and growers in the East and the UK. Research and development into the application of new and innovative technologies, will be increasingly important to ensuring food security and a sustainable food industry.
But AgriTech is not just about food. The application of new technologies can improve human health and positively impact climate change. Developments in plant genome sequencing can improve biodiversity, reduce carbon, and develop new crops that can provide health benefits by reducing the risks of heart attack or diabetes.
This paper highlights the challenges which the sector faces including:
Funding - the sector has not received sufficient investor attention in recent years and the amount of venture capital funding (£1.3bn in total) is not increasing as fast as our other emerging sectors.
Skills development – skill gaps and shortages will need to be met. The sector is not sufficiently attractive to skilled labour which is limiting growth and wage growth - on average the roles advertised in AgriTech are 13% lower than the UK’s average salary.
Regulatory practices – particularly in relation to gene edited crops and novel foods, and more generally to export potential.
There is a need to get investors and politicians excited about the industry. To explore a strategy for the related and complementary industrial development of the eastern region as a whole, to address the disconnect in the food industry between farmers, processors and customers, and to improve the distance to market, including trade and export capability.