£21.5m boost for farm innovation as new crops and tech head to fields
From climate-ready hemp to vitamin-enriched tomatoes, £21.5m is being invested by Defra to help English farms cut emissions, boost productivity and turn research into tools that can be used on the ground.
The funding will back 15 innovation projects across England, supporting farmers in sectors ranging from dairy and arable to horticulture and marginal land use, as part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme delivered with Innovate UK.
The projects are designed to move new ideas out of laboratories and into everyday farming practice, with a focus on reducing emissions, improving resilience to weather extremes and creating new income opportunities.
Among the schemes receiving support is the ‘Sunshine Tomato’, which uses precision breeding to develop a tomato enriched with provitamin D3, building on earlier field trials to improve nutrition and help tackle vitamin D deficiency.
Another project will focus on low-emissions fertilisers for dairy farming, replacing 50% of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser with biological alternatives to cut nitrous oxide emissions and improve soil health.
Climate-resilient industrial hemp is also being developed, with new high-value varieties designed to cope better with changing weather and offer potential income from less productive land.
Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle said innovation would be key to delivering a more sustainable and competitive sector.
“Innovation is central to a more productive, resilient farming sector,” she said.
“This funding will back new ideas farmers can use on the ground to cut methane and fertiliser-related emissions, strengthen crop resilience, and improve nutrition.”
She added: “It’s part of our Plan for Change to support rural growth and long-term food security.”
Innovate UK said the funding would help accelerate the take-up of new technologies on farms and across the supply chain.
“Working alongside Defra, Innovate UK is ensuring precision breeding and low emission technologies move swiftly from research into real world use,” said managing director Dr Stella Peace.
She said this would enable farmers and agri-businesses to “grow, compete, and unlock new economic opportunities across the UK’s food and farming sector”.
The £21.5m package forms part of the government’s wider commitment to invest at least £200m in agricultural innovation by 2030, with a focus on practical solutions that support farm businesses and food security.
It builds on nearly £2.3m awarded to 30 projects announced in December through the first round of the ADOPT Fund, where new ideas such as lower-emission machinery and digital farm management tools are already being tested on working farms.
Defra said the latest projects were selected through two competitions launched in April 2025, focused on precision breeding and low-emissions farming.
Many of the schemes will now move into further trials and development, with the aim of bringing new crops, inputs and technologies closer to commercial use and wider on-farm adoption.
