Ł500k boost for indoor crop tech that could help UK

Light Science Technologies (LST) has been awarded the money from UK innovation agency Innovate UK to build on its expertise in the area.

The business, based on the Hilton Business Park, near Derby, provides lighting and plant growing and monitoring technology in partnership with university research teams.

Its agricultural tech can be used in vertical farming (where crops such as tomatoes are grown in vertically stacked layers), greenhouses, polytunnels and in the cultivation of medicinal plants.

Its sustainable light unit combines interchangeable LEDs, power and other technology to help reduce costs and generate maximum yields.

Its monitoring and control equipment can send instant crop data to technicians, farmers, and facility managers.

The grant is part of Innovate UK's Farming Initiative Pathway consortium set up to make UK agriculture more sustainable and efficient.

LST's intelligent LED grow-lighting product is expected to be the first system of its kind designed for polytunnels and glasshouses.

It is hoped it will extend the growing season, enabling farmers to grow a wider variety of produce all year round, while hopefully helping with ongoing labour shortages and reducing the country's reliance on food imports.

The potential UK market has more than 4,000 industrial growers, producing around 300 types of vegetables, salad crops, and tree and berry fruits.

It is being developed as part of a consortium between LST, Zenith Nurseries and Morrish Engineering, which began in November, and has a potential value of almost Ł14 million. 

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Photo by Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash

Source: Agritech Future