CHALLENGE The FAO estimates that food production needs to increase 70% by 2050 to achieve global food security. Development of new crop varieties, agrochemicals and crop management techniques are key to increasing food productivity and reducing environmental impact. They rely on multi-phase testing; initially lab based, in greenhouses, then in field trials across multiple soil types and climates. The 4 largest Ag companies have a combined R&D budget of over $5bn: * In the UK; NIAB run 150,000+ plots, Agrii, 40,000+ * Worldwide; UPL run 1500 multi-plot trials, Syngenta run 114 R&D sites Trials programmes are in desperate need of innovation, As most monitoring is still done visually, manually, and in-person. SOLUTION Drone tech and AI image analysis can provide more frequent monitoring with notable time and cost savings over other techniques (up to 30x faster) plus uniform data capture/analysis for faster product development and better environmental profiles. Micro-SME business, Drone Ag will develop a new trials plot imaging and analysis system to deliver unique per-plot, extreme high resolution analytics within minutes. Through this technology, Drone Ag will enable: * Workforce upskilling; freed from manual trial evaluation by eye. * Rapid chemical and breeding iteration through time/cost saving. * Data provision, feeding new AI models for companies who previously could not repeatedly gather uniform data at such a low cost/high volume ratio. Since this would replace current practice with a more efficient, detailed system, this solution is highly innovative, disruptive and would be highly sought-after. We will be making use of feedback from key industry stakeholders throughout the project and beyond, to ensure the solution meets their requirements. The project will deliver economic benefits to and end-users, and the wider supply-chain.I would translate to wider benefits for the population as a whole including healthier and cleaner air, water and food.

CHALLENGE The FAO estimates that food production needs to increase 70% in order to feed a world population of 9.8 billion by 2050\. Healthy soils lay at the foundations of agricultural development, healthy and nutritious food production, and essential ecosystem services, which are crucial to our basic survival as well as our planet's sustainable future. Sustainable management of soil could produce up to 58% more food and agricultural soils are among the planet's largest reservoirs of carbon and hold potential for expanded carbon sequestration. Reliable soil data are essential in implementing sustainable soil management and more regular measurements are required for Carbon sequestration schemes. However current soil-sampling techniques are time-consuming, being either manual, or using machinery which is costly, produces carbon emissions and itself can damage the soil. SOLUTION Drone technologies offer significant potential to tackle these challenges. They can deliver notable time and cost savings over other techniques (e.g. up to 20x faster than walking) and environmental benefits (e.g. no ground compaction or carbon emissions). Micro-SME business, Drone Ag will develop and test Skippy Scout Soil, a system that will be more cost effective, timely and environmentally friendly than other solutions currently available. This novel technology will enable Drone Ag to extend its market leading technology into the soil analysis market. R&D will address hardware and software challenges, focusing on two key innovations to develop the system and will lead to an efficient, accurate, easy to use, compact and affordable, novel solution that is disruptive to the current market. We will work closely with key industry stakeholders to ensure the solution will meet their requirements. The project will deliver economic benefits to the wider supply chain and end-users. Environmental benefits will result in particular, with more efficient analysis for carbon measurement, less soil compaction and less carbon emissions. Social impacts include high-value job creation.