Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much public funding has been allocated through the Industrial Strategy to support agri-tech as a frontier industry; and how this compares with the funding allocated to each other frontier industry identified in the Strategy.
In the Industrial Strategy, Government set out an ambition to drive innovation in agriculture. We committed to invest at least £200 million in the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030, with £123 million available for competitions in 2026-27. To date, the programme has supported more than 300 projects, including innovations in fruit crop protection and dairy health in Horsham. Frontier industries are supported through a range of interventions tailored to their specific growth opportunities and barriers, rather than through directly comparable funding allocations. Progress is reported through our Quarterly Updates and recent one-year Industrial Strategy delivery update.