Agri-EPI Centre is one of four AgriTech Innovation Centres established by the UK government, with support from Business Innovation and Skills Department and managed through Innovate UK. It is a Company Limited by Guaranteed owned by three HEIs and three companies from across the agri-food industryThis consortium of key organisations in the field of precision agriculture and engineering brings together expertise in research and industry, as well as data gathering capacity in all areas of farming.
The core partners in the Centre are Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Harper Adams University, Cranfield University, Harbro Ltd, Ag Space Agriculture Ltd, Kingshay Farming and AGGO Ltd. A further 69 companies are supporting the Centre, including large supermarkets, food producers, farmers, processors and engineering and technology businesses.
Through joining organisations in all sections of the supply chain it will become a world-leading centre for excellence in engineering and precision agriculture for the livestock, arable, aquaculture and horticulture sectors.
Amidst the new revolution in information technologies and engineering science, the Centre will explore how to optimise the performance of the highly complex production and processing systems in agriculture. This will include key drivers of profitability and sustainability, such as livestock and plant growth rates, nutrient efficiency, product quality, and health.
Initial areas of interest will include cutting edge technologies such as automated vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”), new instrumentation to monitor both operations and in-field performance of cropping systems, as well as sensing and imaging technologies to monitor livestock production in areas such as product quality and health.
More information can be found at: https://www.agri-epicentre.com/