Farming Futures R&D Fund: Precision Breeding

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size
• collaborate with at least one other UK registered organisation

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications.

All other organisation types and businesses not acting as a lead can collaborate on any number of applications.

Your project must:

• have total costs of between £1 million and £2.5 million
• last up to 36 months
• address the specific requirements of precision breeding as set out in the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023
• be able to demonstrate how the project will benefit farmers or growers in England
• carry out all its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in England
• start by 1 January 2026
• end by 31 December 2028

If your application is successful, any awards given to primary agricultural producers are subject to the green box exemption under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.

See further guidance on green box subsidies WTO Guidance for support in Agriculture. Applicants receiving this type of support must ensure that there is minimal to no distortion of trade and comply with the requirements of Annex 2 of the Agriculture Agreement.

The aim of this competition is to fund collaborative industrial research projects to unlock the benefits of precision breeding in developing ambitious new solutions leading to more sustainable and productive farming practices.

Projects in this competition should deliver on ambitious new solutions that can help realise a range of improvements to existing crop production, including but not limited to:

• increased crop yield: quality and quantity
• increased plant resilience to pests, diseases and pathogens
• increased plant resilience to climate change, resistance to abiotic stresses
• enhanced photosynthesis or reduced crop growth cycles
• improved crop harvesting and storage characteristics
• improved nutritional value of crops, for example, biofortification
• reduced allergens and toxins in crops
• improved palatability and visual appeal of crops
• increased shelf life of crops

Your project must:

• demonstrate clear project deliverables that will enable improved resilience, sustainability and productivity for farmers or growers in England
• ensure concepts are closely aligned with industry priorities to deliver business orientated transformative opportunities
• encourage dissemination and knowledge exchange of precision breeding technologies and their potential benefit to the wider sector and increase the maturity or market readiness of emerging solutions
• evidence how precision breeding approaches can help to provide benefit for farmers or growers in England

Your project must focus on horticultural crops or arable crops.

We are not funding projects that are:

• not addressing precision breeding techniques as set out in the Genetic Technology Act 2023
• duplicating existing projects funded by the Crop Genetic Improvement Platform or any UK public funded body
• relating to animals
• forestry specific
• for the production of crops or plants for medicinal or pharmaceutical use
• not benefiting farmers or growers in England
• circular economy or energy production specific

A consortium building event will be held at 10am on 1 May 2025: click here to register for a place.

A recorded applicant briefing will be available after the competition opening date.

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Agrifood team.