Innovation Agritech Group & University of Essex Secure Funding to Create £3.5 million Facility

The major funding boost will be used to create a state-of-the-art indoor crop growth facility to explore how to future-proof crop production for an increasing global population

Agricultural technology company, Innovation Agritech Group (‘IAG’), can today announce it is further cementing its relationship with the University of Essex, as the university receives a major funding boost from The Wolfson Foundation, to continue its world-leading plant productivity research.

The Wolfson Foundation, an independent grant-making charity, has pledged £1 million to support the development of a unique Smart Technology Experimental Plant Suite (STEPS) at Essex’s Colchester Campus to future-proof crop production in a changing and challenging world. With one of the longest established whole plant physiology and photosynthesis groups in the UK, Essex has long been at the forefront of plant productivity research.

As major contributor to the project, IAG will be installing its innovative and patented IAG GrowFrame™ – a modular system, it uses aeroponic irrigation and closed loop water recycling to provide water and highly precise nutrients with no pesticides, as well as being proven to produce a healthier root system and superior crop growth.

The IAG GrowFrame™ will be part of a wider advanced technology system, which will include artificial intelligence (AI), environmental sensors and water management systems all provided and installed by IAG, enabling the ability to grow plants in a fully automated and adjustable environment.

Through the installation, the University of Essex will have an unrivalled facility for extended education, UK outreach, research, experimentation and knowledge transfer for the real-world application of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture).

This comes at a time when there is expected growth in the human population by 2050, alongside building climate resilience, all driving a step-change in sustainable agricultural productivity.

Kate Brunswick, Business Development Director, comments: “The investment and funding from The Wolfson foundation into STEPS is a fantastic moment for the whole of the vertical farming industry. We know the global population is growing – and predicted to continue to do so rapidly. The traditional methods of farming and food production alone are not enough. The capability to provide adequate nutritional food, will continue to be a world-wide challenge as demand increases.

“Since 2017, the mission of IAG is to provide a cost-effect solution that can be used on a global scale. To grow food to help feed increasing populations – especially in urban spaces or where arable farming is depleting the land due to over-farming. Collaborating with Professor Tracy Lawson and her team at the University of Essex, we’re confident that our technology will help lead the way in future-proofing food security and building climate resilience. It is a hugely exciting project to be a part of, and one that is personally close to our own objectives.”

The project is being spearheaded by renowned plant physiologist, and key member of the IAG advisory board, Professor Tracy Lawson from Essex’s School of Life Sciences. Lawson comments: “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding from the Wolfson Foundation. This unique facility will build on our world-leading strengths in plant productivity research and allow us to exploit the latest technologies to improve key plant processes.

“It will elevate our cross-disciplinary research and work with business stakeholders to address some of the key challenges in the agriculture and horticulture sector. STEPS will also provide a unique platform for community engagement and outreach to increase the visibility of plant science research and highlight the global challenges in this area.”

In addition, Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: “New and improved farming methods will be crucial to solving some of the great challenges of the 21st century, not least global food security – especially in the context of a changing climate. The University of Essex has an impressive track record in crop science, and we are delighted to be supporting these experimental facilities. We hope they will assist in making important new breakthroughs in sustainable food production.”

The STEPs facility will extend the activities initiated by the Essex Plant Innovation Centre (EPIC), which already has strong links working with Agri-Tech and environmental industries to deliver solutions to real-word problems. The £3.5million facility, which is due to be open by summer 2023,will comprise four unique environmental grow rooms.

19th July 2022

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Innovation Agritech Group and University of essex secure £1m grant for a unique experimental plant growth facility

World-leading plant productivity research at the University of Essex has received a major funding boost to create a new state-of-the-art indoor crop growth facility.

Today, the Wolfson Foundation has pledged £1 million to support the development of a unique Smart Technology Experimental Plant Suite (STEPS) at Essex’s Colchester Campus to future-proof crop production in a changing world.

With one of the longest established whole plant physiology and photosynthesis groups in the UK,Essex has long been at the forefront of plant productivity research.

Building on these existing strengths, the facility will be able to grow plants in a suite of fully automated and adjustable environments, including dynamic tuneable lighting systems capable of replicating natural outdoor environments in real time, with fine-scale regulation of temperature, humidity, water availability and CO 2 concentrations.

This will be underpinned by advanced technology, artificial intelligence (AI), environmental sensors and water management systems. There will also be an experimental commercial-standard vertical farm that will further expand Essex’s research, expertise and knowledge in indoor plant growth.

With the expected growth in human population by 2050, a step-change in agricultural productivity, sustainability and resilience is needed to keep up with demand. Ensuring future food security and building climate resilience is also central to the UN’s global sustainable development goals.

Renowned plant physiologist Professor Tracy Lawson, from Essex’s School of Life Sciences, said:“ We are delighted to have been awarded this funding from the Wolfson Foundation. This unique facility will build on our world-leading strengths in plant productivity research and allow us to exploit the latest technologies to improve key plant processes.

Professor Chris Greer, Essex Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research, added: “At Essex, our Plant Productivity Group (PP Group), led by Professor Lawson, is a world-class teamof plant scientists, driven by a shared commitment to understanding the physiology and genetics of crop yield to address the global challenge of feeding the world in the future.

“Thanks to this grant from the Wolfson Foundation, the STEPS facility will take our already transformational research in this area to the next level, strengthen our partnerships with a diversity of stakeholders, and deliver real-world impact to mitigate the effects of climate change on global agriculture.”

The STEPS facility will extend the activities initiated by the Essex Plant Innovation Centre (EPIC), which brings together the research skills, expertise and technologies from the PP Group, the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, the Institute for Analytics and Data Science and Essex Business School, to provide an innovative platform to engage industrial partners and stakeholders in addressing the many challenges facing the agricultural and horticultural sector at local, national and international levels.

EPIC already has strong links working with agri-tech and environmental industries to deliver solutions to real-world problems including helping develop new tools for plant growth in indoor environments using a combination of sensors, robotics and feedback systems to explore how lighting regimes for indoor/vertical farming environments can be fine-tuned to optimise plant performance whilst reducing energy demand and other inputs.

The £3.5million facility, which is due to be open by late summer 2023, will comprise four unique environmental growth rooms. This project will include long-time industry collaborator Innovation Agritech Group (IAG). British agricultural technology company, IAG, will be installing the commercial standard vertical farm unit, deploying a full scale IAG GrowFrame™ system – which is unique to the global vertical farming market. The IAG GrowFrame™ will provide a facility at Essex for extended education, UK outreach, research, experimentation and knowledge transfer for the real-world application of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture).

Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: “New and improved farming methods will be crucial to solving some of the great challenges of the 21 st century, not least global food security – especially in the context of a changing climate.
The University of Essex has an impressive track record in crop science and we are delighted to be supporting these experimental facilities. We hope they will assist in making important new breakthroughs in sustainable food production.”

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Innovation Agritech Group Appoints Global Sales Team To Transition Business To Revenue

IAG Gears Up for Ascent Phase in Q3 2022, appointing a sales team to take their technologies to the global market

14 th July 2022: Agricultural technology company, Innovation Agritech Group (‘IAG’), has appointed an experienced sales team as the business heads out of R&D phase and gets ready for the Ascent Phase in Q3 of 2022. The team, which have a successful track record in the technology space, have been tasked with taking the innovative and anticipated IAG technologies to a global market, and support the business in its transition to revenue.

IAG hand-selected the team due to their strong background in accelerating sales, and their strategies to increase a company’s valuation over short period of time. What’s more, the 12 strong team have high-level technical expertise woven into their DNA. This enables them to seamlessly communicate the detail of IAG’s vertical farming solutions to potential new customers. Coupled with their know-how in helping businesses break into new international markets, the collaboration is perfectly suited to taking IAG’s agricultural advances and challenger business to the countries and climates that will benefit the most.

Jaz Singh, CEO and Founder of IAG, says: “IAG is at the forefront of developing exciting and,importantly, cost-effective ways of producing food where traditional farming methods alone are not able to meet demand. The sales team we’ve appointed will be able to strategically complement our existing team. As a forethinking business, we’re excited to be moving onto a stage where we can grow not just in the UK, but begin to take our solutions to countries and companies on a global scale – ensuring IAG becomes the most successful version of itself.”
The appointment of the sales team comes at a busy time for the business as they prepare to launch their biggest innovation yet – set to completely revolutionise not only the vertical farming industry,but how we grow produce on a global scale.
Alongside the development of the sales team, IAG has recently created an advisory board with experts Professor Tracy Lawson and Dr Chris Foulds. DuncanBannatyne has also this year joined the IAG board as a Non-Executive Director, having been impressed by the technology developed by the team at IAG and how the future of vertical farming is set to revolutionise the way that we grow food on a global scale.

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New year, new you: not enough nutrition?

New year, new you? Sound familiar?

Many people have made new years’ resolutions which include lifestyle changes such as losing a few pounds, keeping fit, and even changing the way they eat.

Maybe this Christmas period you over indulged, but have now vowed that as soon as January 1st approached you were going to change your ways. Eating more fruit and vegetableshas been at the core of this plan, however,it can be questioned how much nutrition is in the food that you are buying to start your new year diet?

What if someone said to you that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago contained more vitamins and minerals than produce that we buy today?Can fake news be claimed? In a world where science is at the best it’s ever been, our produce should surely be more nutritious than decades ago. The answer is no!

A recent study comparing the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables from 1940-2002 showed that the mineral content for our food has declined drastically. A decrease of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C and other nutritional variables will have significant implications on our health. The main culprit for this is soil depletion, as modern methods of farming have unfortunately stripped the nutrients from the soil. A report has found that soil depletion levels in Europe are now at 72% from the last 100 years, compared to 76% in Asia and 85% in North America (Source: earth summit report 1992).

As overpopulation becomes a further pressing issue, the demand for food only increases. Intensive farming and the use of chemical fertilisers has become an issue for many of us, as crops are less nutritious. As a result, much of the produce we eat contain fewer nutrients than it did 90 years ago.

To combat these issues, Innovation Agri-Tech Group (IAG) are using state of the art technology that prioritises in growing food that only has the best nutritional value and flavour. IAG takes pride in producing food that is local, fresh and grown all year round so that consumers can reap the health benefits associated with much nutritional value.

How can one possibly start eating healthy when the produceyou plan to eat have fewer nutrients than they are supposed too? Minerals are imperative for our health and serious health conditions is due to the lack of minerals and nutrients that are fed into our bodies.

Food miles is another element that is reducing vital nutrients within produce. Before reaching our local supermarket shelves, much of our fruit and vegetables has travelled thousands of miles. Imports have increased as we have become heavily reliant on sources from other parts of the world. It has been said that in 2016, fruit and vegetables imports were £10.3 billion, while exports were worth only £1.1 billion.

Controlled environment agriculture is a modern technique for farmers and consumers to grow their food, as the negative effects of traditional methods of farming decreases. It aims to be pesticide free, chemical free, soil free.

Innovating the agricultural industry and growing crops in controlled environments, will ensure that the fruits and vegetables we grow retains their nutritional value so that you can feed your body what it needs the most.

Eating healthy is not merely just a diet; it is a lifestyle. Feeding our bodies with the most nutrients it needs should be mandatory not optional. Hopefully the next time you fill your shopping trolley with fruits and vegetables from your local supermarket, you’ll question its nutritious value!

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3 Things That Will Amaze You About Agri-Tech

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Filming the importance of assurance in driving innovation

Following on from our Red Tractor Certification, we were delighted to welcome back SAI Global to film IAG on site for a video to be released in the New Year around the benefits and importance of assurance in driving innovation, resilience and sustainability.
@SAI_Assurance. #sustainability #innovation #film

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