"Vertical farming (VF) has the potential to revolutionise food production. The industry is experiencing enormous growth, propelled by the increased demand for pesticide-free foods, rising global populations, decreased availability of land and demand for year-round food production worldwide. It delivers numerous benefits versus traditional farming methods including lower water usage, reduced dependence on agrochemicals and the ability to produce high quality, consistent, year-round crop production. Developing the VF sector holds the promise of significant benefits to society and the farming industry. By growing an ever-increasing percentage of the food that we consume in VF systems, pressures on farmland will reduce, and year-round local food production can be enabled while improving the outlook for permanent jobs in the farming sector. However, the industry requires further innovations to reduce operational costs and improve yields to allow it to be commercially viable beyond the production of high-value, niche, crops. VF production systems bring together an array of different technologies, many of which have been adapted from the glasshouse-based horticultural industry. Currently, these technologies have reduced integration and are lacking optimisation for crop yield, quality and control. This project brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of partners, representing a wide range of technologies and expertise, all of whom have significant experience in the VF market. The outcome of the project will be a fully optimised prototype VF growing system. It will offer a high-tech, turn-key solution that will reduce the complexity and costs of building, and adjusting and monitoring for optimal growth conditions in VF production systems. It will provide growers with better control, through data-driven information, and automate responses to changes detected, enabling them to deliver higher quality, higher yield produce, whilst better equipping them to adapt to market demand and reducing the risks of business failures. The technology will facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge in crop production into benefits for growers. The system will include low-cost LED-lighting, that match ideal growing conditions throughout the plant growth cycle and improved nutrient control and delivery system, for increased plant yield and quality. We will evaluate the feasibility of incorporating vision sensing capabilities at large-scale which can provide valuable real-time feedback on crop health. This, in turn, will allow the development of a decision support system for the automated control of the atmospheric environment. Grower engagement in the development of a single user-friendly control system for control of all operations will be a central outcome."

"LettUs Grow & ECH Engineering are on a mission to revolutionise vertical farming and help feed the next generation. We will do this by combining our innovative irrigation and lighting technologies to increase productivity, quality and sustainability of vertical farming. Vertical farms combine soil-free growing of crops indoors, in stacked beds of shelves, under artificial lights and controlled environments. They are able to produce crops all year round, protected from the elements, without the requirement for pesticides. The project will combine our technologies in a feasibility study to test and prove, in a large-scale farm operation, the efficiency and yield gains to demonstrate significant economic benefits and compete with traditional agriculture and global vertical farming market leaders. In January 2017 an estimated 600 vertical farms were in operation globally (Newbean Capital, 2016), in a market valued at over $2 billion and estimated to exceed $13 billion by 2024 (27% annual growth). The UK plays a growing part in this market, with over 10 new farm builds and/or expansions planned for 2018\. We aim to be the principal supplier of irrigation, lighting, and environmental control technology to the UK market and target sales into key markets in the US, Europe, and Middle East by 2020\. LettUs Grow design technology for the next generation of vertical farms. Our value proposition is three-fold. We: • increase crop yields through our patent-pending irrigation hardware • reduce farm operational costs through our farm management software • provide R&D services so that farmers don't have to undertake it internally ECH's water-cooled lighting system improves electrical efficiency by maintaining LED's at an optimal temperature to maximise LED life and efficiency (frequent early failures in traditional products are typically heat related), and furthermore decouples the light intensity and heat, which is important when growing in an enclosed space as it reduces the running costs of energy intensive HVAC systems. The project team combines strong scientific research and product development skills with experience in design and build of controlled environment facilities and over 10 years' experience in vertical farming."

As a major agri-food business operating in perishable fruits and vegetables the Sangha Refrigeration amongst other fresh produce businesses in India are currently facing high wastage levels and major operational challenges. This project involves Indian Partners Sangha Innovation Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Center for Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB) and UK partners the University of Lincoln (National Centre for Food Manufacturing), Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd, FRPERC (Food Refrigeration & Process Engineering Research Centre) and ECH Engineering Ltd, working together to develop and optimize the fresh produce supply chain and related storage processes in India. Project activities will include the review, research and development of small (10 tonne units for small farmers and communities) and large scale cold-storage facilities for fresh produce including potatoes and other fruit and vegetables. We will also develop highly novel large volume storage control systems and a new generation of packaging materials to control moisture and gas levels during produce storage, which are biodegradable and suitable for a tropical climate and other challenges of the Indian produce supply chain. Project benefits in India will include helping small farmers to improve their living conditions by preventing rapid value loss in their crops, allowing them to keep produce long enough to sell into higher-value markets. Some fresh produce currently of sufficient quality only for use as animal feed, will as a result of this project, maintain high enough quality for human consumption, increasing availability of nutritious, efficiently produced fresh produce. These benefits will be achieved through introducing temperature control in a low-cost, energy efficient way, working in conjunction with affordable, functional packaging, some of which has the potential to be manufactured from inedible waste portions of food crops. The packaging will be home-compostable, helping to address what is already a large plastic waste challenge in India.