Crops

Plants and crops underpin the health, wellbeing and food security of our growing population. We depend on them through direct consumption or indirectly via livestock consumption.

Plants and crops play a key role through ecosystem services that improve our quality of life. The economic, social and environmental value of crops, forests and horticulture is estimated to around £9bn per year.

The UK is home of some of the highest crop yields in the world, where 1 ha of land in the UK is equivalent to 2 ha elsewhere in the world. That’s down to the UK’s favourable climate, knowledgeable farmers and agronomists, its world leading universities and R&D organisations, and companies. New and old challenges make innovation in the sector an increasingly important matter. The agriculture land is under pressure due to urbanisation for a growing population, the ban of pesticides by the EU in recent years has been putting entire crops at risk of failure, a pressure to decrease the use of chemical fertilisers that are the leading cause of pollution in the production of plants and crops, unpredictable and extreme weather events due to climate change, combined with a decrease of seasonal workers in agriculture due to Brexit and more recently COVID-19. This means increasing land productivity in a sustainable manner is key for the future of agriculture in the UK.

We’ve got expertise across the plant and crop industry and research. The plants and crops team has key connections with many stakeholders within industry, academia, government and others to enable consortia building and provide clear direction to those looking to innovate in this area of AgriFood. Our experience includes but isn’t limited to crop breeding, integrated pest management, precision and smart agriculture, vertical farming, biostimulants, biopesticides, helping to improve crop productivity and sustainability.

Our Experts

Related Opportunities

High Growth AI Accelerator - Agriculture

Opens: 09/06/2025   Closes: 13/07/2025

This acceleration programme helps businesses access the computation power and expertise they need to validate or develop scalable machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions in the agrifood sector.

More Information

Defra Farming Innovation Investor Partnership 2025

Opens: 02/06/2025   Closes: 02/07/2025

UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £5m to develop innovative farming solutions. This must align with private investment from selected investor partners.

More Information

Farming Futures R&D Fund: Precision Breeding

Opens: 05/05/2025   Closes: 25/06/2025

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £12.5 million for precision breeding of arable and horticultural crops.

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Farming Futures R&D Fund: low emissions farming

Opens: 05/05/2025   Closes: 25/06/2025

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £12.5 million for industrial research projects from the Farming Futures R&D Fund.

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Full ADOPT Grant: Round 1

Opens: 28/04/2025   Closes: 25/06/2025

Farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England can apply for a share of up to £2 million for on-farm trial and demonstration projects, to improve adoption of new ideas or solutions in the agricultural sector.

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Global Incubator Programme: Agri-Tech – Land x Launch Australia

Opens: 23/05/2025   Closes: 30/06/2025

Delivered by Innovate UK, in partnership with Farmers2Founders (F2F) and AgriFood Futures, this Global Incubator Programme (GIP) provides an opportunity for UK-based companies to expand and exploit collaborative innovation and growth opportunities in the Australian market.

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Related Events and Recordings

Thu
19
Jun
2025

Global Incubator Programme: Agri-Tech – Land x Launch Australia briefing event

08.00 - 09.00 | Online

Recording coming soon
Wed
4
Dec
2024

Global Insights: USA Alternative Proteins

15.00 - 17.00 | Online

Watch now
Thu
11
Apr
2024

Plant Microbiome webinar

09.30 - 11.15 GMT+1 | Online

Watch now
Thu
19
Jun
2025

Engineering Biology Innovation Network Launch Event

10.00 - 12.00 | Online

Recording coming soon
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