Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-TechE, speaks with Niall Mottram, VP of Energy and Carbon Dioxide Removal at Cambridge Consultants about about how technologies and ideas developed in other industries can help solve some of agriculture's most pressing challenges and bridging the \"missing middle\" between research and commercialisation in agri-tech.
Drawing on experience across the energy, telecommunications and infrastructure sectors, Niall explains how cross-sector innovation can help tackle major agricultural challenges around water management, energy resilience and productivity. He shares an example of a precision irrigation system developed with Netafim, where fibre-optic communications technology is being used to improve water efficiency while supporting crop growth.
The conversation explores whether agriculture could benefit from a similar innovation funding model to the UK's Strategic Innovation Fund, helping promising technologies move beyond academia and into practical deployment on farms. Topics include technology commercialisation, robotics, drones, digital agriculture, regional growth, food security and sustainable farming.
Niall also discusses why agriculture should be recognised as critical national infrastructure and highlights the growing importance of cyber security, post-quantum cryptography, quantum computing and resilience planning for the future of food production.
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