Eligibility and Scope:

• Applicants must be from farming, growing, or forestry businesses in England.
• The competition aims to investigate early-stage solutions that can substantially improve productivity, sustainability, resilience, and aid in transitioning to net zero emissions.
• Proposals should focus on solutions beneficial in commercially relevant situations for farmers, growers, or foresters.
• The feasibility study should explore new solutions to industry challenges or opportunities, focusing on improving productivity, sustainability, environmental impact, progression towards net zero emissions, and resilience.

Specific Themes and Exclusions:

• Projects should address challenges or opportunities in at least one of the four industry sub-sectors: livestock, plants, novel food production systems, or bioeconomy and agroforestry.
• Projects that are equine specific, involve wild caught fisheries, cellular/acellular production systems, or medicinal plant production are not eligible.

Application Process:

• This is a two-stage competition. The current EoI stage does not award funding but selects candidates for the full stage.
• Successful EoI applicants will be invited to the full stage competition in March 2024 and can access support to complete their applications.

Accessibility and Inclusion:

• The competition encourages applications from diverse backgrounds.
• Innovate UK offers support and reasonable adjustments for applicants with disabilities or long-term conditions.