The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
Register now for the ‘Unlocking the future of engineering biology regulation’ webinar on 11 February from 10:00-12:00!
Join us for a cross-sector webinar designed to demystify the UK’s regulatory environment and provide practical, actionable insights for innovators, SMEs, researchers, and policy professionals.
The event will feature keynote speakers from the Food Standards Agency, real-world case studies from pioneering companies, and first-hand experiences from participants in the cell-cultivated proteins regulatory sandbox.
The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
The Earlham Institute and Natural History Museum, London have today announced a joint venture spin-out company Agnos Biosciences™ and its cutting-edge rapid DNA air sequencing technology, AirSeq™, to transform biological threat detection.
The Agnos Biosciences™ team developed the AirSeq™ technology which provides rapid detection of airborne pathogens, transforming capabilities for early pathogen detection. This new technology is a method for characterising biological particles in the air using a combination of novel molecular biology, DNA sequencing and bespoke computational analysis.
With a very low false positive rate, it can be used to quantify the presence of bacteria, viruses, fungi, pollen or any other biological material. Unlike alternatives, AirSeq™ is unbiased, is not targeted to specific pathogens and can detect multiple (1000s) species.
Culminating years of scientific research and development funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Earlham Institute, NHM and other public and philanthropic funding bodies in the UK and US, AirSeq™ technology has a range of potential applications with proven results in environmental monitoring, agricultural pathogens, food manufacturing – and biological threat detection following extensive research with the US DARPA (United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).
Earlham Institute Group Leader and Agnos Biosciences Co-Founder and CTO Dr Richard Leggett said: “I’m delighted to launch AirSeq as a service after so many years of research and development. This is an exciting opportunity to use this technology to help new customers with different applications, as well as develop AirSeq’s continued use in agriculture, the wider food industry and in biosecurity.”
At the Earlham Institute scientists have contributed over a decade of research to AirSeq technology.
Natural History Museum Research Leader and Agnos Biosciences’ Co-Founder and CSO Professor Matt Clark said: “AirSeq is the culmination of many years of research. We are very excited about how fast and accurate it is at detecting pathogens or indeed any organism via their DNA – identifying them in the air enables early, critical interventions hopefully preventing infections and pandemics taking hold.”
The Earlham Institute and Natural History Museum are licensing AirSeq technology to Agnos Biosciences™ which will enable the spinout to offer it as an end-to-end commercial service includes air sampling, lab-based DNA extraction and sequencing, as well as bioinformatics analysis and web-based visualisation of results.
With the core technology (patented novel molecular biology methods and bioinformatics platform) prototyped, tried and tested, AirSeq™ is already being used by customers in the UK. AirSeq™ has multiple commercial applications from food safety in food manufacturing to cleanroom, controlled environment applications in biopharma to biosecurity and biological threat detection.
The dual-use spinout Agnos Biosciences™ is the first venture to launch from the Strategy and Innovation Unit at the Natural History Museum, and is one of the first of its kind in the UK’s Culture sector.
Natural History Museum Entrepreneur in Residence and Agnos Biosciences Co-Founder and CEO Simon Kim said: “We are excited to launch our dual-use venture Agnos Biosciences™. Our innovative AirSeq™ technology tackles a growing global health issue, the spread of pathogens and biological threats. With clients in agriculture, food manufacturing and academic research and applications in biosecurity and biopharma development it has clean room applications, even potentially in space!”
Dr Liliya Serazetdinova, Head of Business Development and Impact at the Earlham Institute, said: “Agnos Biosciences is our second spinout company at the Earlham Institute; we truly believe in the importance of translating our cutting-edge science into real-world applications. lt enables so many more lives to be transformed and we are delighted to work with the Natural History Museum on this joint venture.’’
Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, BBSRC Executive Chair, said: “This exciting spin-out demonstrates the power of long-term BBSRC investment in fundamental bioscience to deliver real-world impact. Agnos Biosciences is translating cutting-edge research into a technology with the potential to strengthen biosecurity, protect public health and support key sectors such as agriculture and food production.”
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NatureTech: Supporting Businesses to serve both Profit and Planet
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For decades, productive farming and nature recovery risked being framed as opposing forces. Happily this has now changed, and the Dasgupta Review (2021) has unpicked the economics of biodiversity, with those prioritising soil health and biodiversity reaping the financial rewards of investing in nature.
A new wave of companies is setting out to demonstrate that technology inspired by – and designed to restore – nature can benefit both the environment and the bottom line. This “NatureTech” movement is demonstrating that business success and ecological health are not trade-offs, but partners.
What is NatureTech?
We view NatureTech as a sub-set of agri-tech – sitting at the intersection of biology, ecology, and advanced technology. The innovations emerging include deploy AI, sensors, biotechnology and data platforms. We would also include co-called “fintech” tools that value and trade ecosystem services such as carbon, water, and biodiversity.
Casey Woodward, AgriSound: a vertical AI company using smart listening technologies and proprietary AI algorithms for precision pollination
Wilder Sensing biodiversity monitoring and reporting
Nature as critical infrastructure
Triple-bottom line accounting was pioneered John Elkington in 1994, aiming to expand the traditional financial “bottom line” to include social responsibility and environmental impact. The “People, Profit and Planet” element of his thinking encourages each to be equally weighted in importance and inter-dependence by businesses.
Viewing nature as a critical infrastructure, both at a national level for government investment, and at the level of individual businesses demands a change in mindset, and, importantly, the technology to help measure, monitor, report and verify impacts on nature.
We know many of our members are under pressure to understand and reduce nature-related risks, from supply chain disruptions to regulatory exposure. Meanwhile, governments and financial institutions are introducing nature-related disclosure frameworks and sustainability requirements, resulting in an urgent need for credible, tech-enabled solutions.
Finally – nature itself is becoming investable. Carbon markets, biodiversity credits, ecosystem restoration projects, and bio-based alternatives are beginning to open new categories of value creation.
Enter NatureTech.
The size of the prize
According to the World Economic Forum and PwC, over half of global GDP – roughly $44 trillion – is “moderately” or “highly” dependent on nature and associated ecosystem services (such as water filtration, fertile soil, and climate regulation). And it’s not just food systems – construction, insurance, pharmaceuticals, energy – entire industries rely on them.
The Food and Land Use Coalition Growing Better report of 2019 went ever further, forecasting an economic benefit of $895 billion with a business opportunity of $200 billion, all in exchange for an investment of $45-65 billion… all by 2030.
Get involved
Inspired by this, we are hosting an event entitled “The Productive Landscape – NatureTech for Profit and Planet” on 28th April at Rothamsted. We’ll be hearing from the Chief Scientist of the Environment Agency, Dr Robert Bradburne, as well as major land-owners and farmers, technology companies, and those who are unpacking the real business of Nature Tech and income flows.
Hope to see you there.
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27th January 2026
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ATW 2025: Climate Adaptation in Agronomy with Satellite Technology
The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
AgriTIERRA is proud to announce the recent launch of ARISE – Agri-Tech for Resilience, Innovation and Sustainable Ecosystems, a six-month international collaboration designed to accelerate the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Engineering Biology in regenerative and climate-resilient agriculture. The programme moved quickly from launch to action, with its first Knowledge Exchange Week recently taking place in São Paulo and Campinas, Brazil, bringing partners together on the ground for the first time.
Funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), ARISE connects three global centres of agricultural innovation, São Paulo, St Louis, and Cambridge, to build a new platform for research, innovation, investment and testbeds collaboration.
For AgriTIERRA, it was particularly rewarding to see the original ambition behind ARISE realised during the Brazil exchange. With the support of our partners, the programme has begun connecting Latin America with the UK and the United States to build a trilateral ecosystem focused on resilient, healthy food systems and frontier technologies such as AI and Engineering Biology.
AgriTIERRA’s role in a Trilateral Partnership for Agri-Tech
ARISE brings together a strategically selected group of partners, each contributing world-leading expertise:
Agri-TechE (United Kingdom) – Project owner, strategic lead, and host of the final Innovation Forum
AgriTierra Ltd (United Kingdom / LATAM) – Project manager, regional coordinator, and convening lead
Earthbase Ltd (UK) – Innovation analysis and start-up ecosystem specialist
Yield Lab Institute (United States) – US partner and host of the St Louis exchange visit
Embrapa (Brazil) – LATAM partner and host of the São Paulo/Campinas exchange
This partnership model allows ARISE to combine strong regional expertise with a shared project structure and strategic direction across all territories. Within this framework, Agri-TechE leads delivery in the UK, with AgriTIERRA supporting international coordination and cross-consortium alignment.
Positioned between operational delivery and strategic oversight, AgriTIERRA helps align activities, engagement, and logistics across the trilateral collaboration to ensure the effective delivery of exchange visits, capability mapping, and overall programme coherence.
This role reflects AgriTIERRA’s experience in facilitating international collaboration and convening diverse stakeholders, contributing to the development of more connected and resilient agricultural innovation ecosystems in Brazil and internationally.
Why ARISE Matters
Food systems across the world are undergoing unprecedented stress. Climate instability, supply chain disruption, new pathogens and shifting production systems require technologies that are:
Resilient
Sustainable
Scalable
Equitable
ARISE addresses this challenge by focusing on 3 frontier technologies with transformative potential:
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
From predictive modelling to autonomous farming systems, AI offers new ways to improve productivity, resilience and environmental performance.
Engineering Biology (EB)
Bioinputs, biomanufacturing, precision fermentation and genome-enabled breeding offer game-changing opportunities for sustainable agriculture.
By bringing the UK, US and LATAM together around these themes, ARISE positions all three regions to jointly create collaborations that foster responsible agricultural innovation.
What ARISE Will Deliver
The ARISE programme brings together the UK, US and Latin America through three international knowledge exchange visits: Brazil (São Paulo and Campinas, December 2025) hosted by Embrapa, the United States (St Louis, February 2026) hosted by the Yield Lab Institute, and the United Kingdom (Cambridge, March 2026) hosted by Agri-TechE.
Each exchange includes workshops, site visits, bilateral meetings and investment-focused matchmaking to support collaboration building. Across these visits, partners are mapping key research and innovation centres, start-ups, investors, accelerators and testbeds to identify priority opportunities across the three ecosystems.
The programme will conclude with a strategic trilateral roadmap setting out priority collaborations, sustainability and opportunities. In the coming month, partners will consolidate insights from the Brazil knowledge exchange to inform the next phases of ARISE.
First activity Knowledge Exchange Week in Brazil
What a week in Brazil! The ARISE Knowledge Exchange Week in Brazil brought together representatives from 7 countries; UK, US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, to explore opportunities for collaboration, research partnerships, testbeds and investment.
The energy in the room was amazing- seven countries identifying common ground from their organisations but also from a country level, complementary strengths and a clear appetite to work together.
The visit reinforced Brazil’s role as a global partner for regenerative, climate-smart agriculture and opportunities as commodity producer.
Through visits and discussions with Embrapa, CNPEM and leading innovation platforms, the delegation saw how Brazil integrates world-class science, digital agriculture, engineering biology, bioenergy and real-world testbeds to address productivity, sustainability and climate resilience at scale.
Embrapa demonstrated how decades of public research continue to evolve into advanced capabilities in data, bioinputs, soil health and environmental systems, while sites such as AgNest and CNPEM highlighted Brazil’s strength in translating frontier science into applied agricultural and climate solutions.
As the first activity of the ARISE trilateral programme, the Brazil visit set strong foundations for collaboration, mutual learning and future partnerships. It set a clear tone for the next exchanges in St Louis and Cambridge.
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The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
2025 was an informative year for UK agriculture, marked by a series of influential reports that mapped out the sector’s challenges and opportunities.
Climate, Nature, and Resilience
The year began with a clear message: climate change and nature loss are deeply interconnected. The Parliamentary Office Science and Technology’s summary explained how biodiversity loss worsens climate change, and vice versa, highlighting nature-based solutions such as peatland restoration and afforestation as essential strategies for carbon storage and adaptation. However, gaps in carbon measurement and the long-term impact of these solutions remain, and stronger integration into climate policy is needed.
The AHDB’s Climate Change Adaptation report warned that climate change threatens farm assets and productivity, but also pointed to new opportunities: alternative crops, lower winter costs, and the need to prioritise UK food security as global supply chains become more volatile.
Innovation & Commercialisation
A major Agri-tech sector report mapped the UK’s strengths in biotechnology, remote sensing, management platforms, and automation. Despite leading research, commercialisation is hampered by funding gaps, misaligned expectations, and policy coordination issues. The report calls for infrastructure support, flexible funding, and collaborative models to bridge the gap between science and industry – a space where Ceres Research is well placed to contribute.
Regulation, Policy, and Adaptation
A review of the regulatory landscape in April argued that environmental regulation should protect nature while enabling innovation and growth. The current system is seen as ineffective, with recommendations for more discretion, cost-effectiveness, and a balanced approach to environmental and economic priorities.
The UK’s Third National Adaptation Programme was assessed as needing better objectives, improved coordination, integration of adaptation into all policies, and robust monitoring and evaluation.
Sustainable Practices & Market Shifts
A global fertiliser report stressed the importance of redefining success metrics in agriculture, balancing yields with environmental costs, and collaborating across the food value chain.
The Independent Water Commission’s interim report in June called for a clearer, long-term strategy for the water system, better asset health assessment, and industry-wide benchmarking to protect customers.
A POSTnote on Regenerative Agriculture found that regenerative practices can improve biodiversity, soil health, and water quality, but come with trade-offs and require context-specific application. Policy instability and administrative burdens remain barriers, while new income streams from private schemes bring risks and uncertainties. Notably, this report was supported by farmers, with contributions from the Ceres Research team at a Royal Agricultural University workshop.
Farm Profitability & Economic Trends
The year ended with the Farming Profitability Review 2025: an independent review, led by Baroness Minette Batters, which examined the drivers of farm profitability and resilience. The review made clear that UK farm businesses are under sustained pressure from rising input costs, volatile markets and policy uncertainty, with no single fix for restoring profitability. The review calls for a long-term national plan for farming, fairer and more transparent supply chains, improved access to finance, and stronger support for innovation, skills and productivity. The key message is to plan for uncertainty, prioritise technologies that cut costs and improve resilience, and use data to manage risk and inform decisions. It also strongly emphasises collaboration, better market intelligence and smarter financial structures as practical ways to strengthen margins and create more sustainable, competitive farm businesses.
Ceres Group contributed to this review, sharing insights and recommendations to support the sector’s future (see our response here).
Looking Ahead
The reports from 2025 collectively point to a sector in transition: adapting to climate change, embracing innovation, and navigating complex regulatory and market landscapes. The need for joined-up action and resilient food production is clear. As organisations provide new food strategy processes (AFN Roadmap) and sustainability frameworks (Global Farm Metric), the role of knowledge exchange, advisory support, and collaborative models will be critical.
For Ceres Research and their members, the challenge—and opportunity—is to help shape these changes, ensuring that science, technology, and practical farming experience come together to build a more sustainable, profitable, and resilient agricultural future.
Joining Ceres Research as a member gives you direct access to timely insights on emerging reports, research breakthroughs, and key policy developments through our Monthly Digests—keeping you informed and ahead in a rapidly evolving sector.
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Dr Emily Servanté from the Cereal Symbiosis group at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, writes about her research into using soil fungi as natural biofertilisers to improve crop performance and reduce environmental impact in rice farming.
It’s an exciting time to be a microbiologist working in rice research. A global push towards the cultivation of water-saving rice is enabling farmers to harness the power of microbes that thrive in less water.
Some farmers already use rice production systems that reduce or eliminate the length of time rice is submerged in a flooded paddy field. At the sowing stage, planting of pre-germinated seeds (direct seeding) rather than traditional transplanting of small plants into flooded paddies reduces the need for waterlogged fields. Waterlogged rice paddies emit huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Similarly, an irrigation practice known as alternate wetting and drying uses pipes drilled into fields to encourage water management and intermittent flooding, reducing water usage and methane emissions.
Among microbes thriving in less water are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These are beneficial soil fungi that live inside plant roots and help to extend plants’ reach into the soil to collect nutrients, acting as “natural biofertilisers”.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are aerobic, meaning they require oxygen for survival. This makes them more likely to be well suited to the drier, more aerated soils (with air spaces to allow efficient exchange of nutrients, water and air) that are increasingly promoted in sustainable rice systems.
To test this theory, I stepped out of the Crop Science lab at the University of Cambridge and into the field at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines.
Using some ink stain and a microscope, I examined roots from IRRI 154, a direct-seeded water-saving rice variety developed by the institute.
The results were striking: in IRRI 154 grown in traditional flooded paddy conditions, there were no signs of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonising the rice roots. But in irrigated, non-flooded “dry” conditions, the fungi were present in up to 20% of the root. This was a clear indication that water-reducing farming practices like dry direct-seeding can promote arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonisation in rice.
Similarly, a recent study reported that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi help rice grown under alternate wetting and drying in Senegal to have increased resilience to changes in water and nutrient levels.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi don’t just help plants access nutrients. They can also provide resistance to pathogens and increased survival in harsh climate conditions such as drought. Encouraging them to colonise rice plants could therefore enhance the overall resilience of rice, an increasingly important trait in the face of climate change and water shortages.
By supporting and even boosting beneficial microbes like these, our team at the Crop Science Centre also hope to reduce the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. Fertilisers are a major source of nitrous oxide (N₂O), a potent greenhouse gas. One alternative is for farmers to apply biofertilisers, products containing live beneficial microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to promote growth.
Determining and testing optimal formulations and application strategies is a big challenge for researchers like me. The effectiveness of biofertilisers depends on several critical quality-control factors. This includes avoiding contamination, preventing spoilage during storage, successful establishment in the soil and efficient colonisation of plant roots.
The soil is a complex environment. Solutions need to be tailored to local landscapes and specific situations. That’s where an ongoing partnership with Tilda, a UK rice brand, comes in. Tilda successfully implemented water-saving alternate wetting and drying with thousands of basmati farmers in India. Since this encourages the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, it has enabled my colleagues and I to put our science into practice.
I visited farmers in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to ask about their thoughts on using local arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-based biofertilisers to reduce the use of synthetic fertiliser. To my surprise, many had heard of “mycorrhizae” and were optimistic about its potential.
Our first mission was to check the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Pusa 1, a popular basmati variety grown in the area. Together with the rice farmers in Haryana, we turned the local rice market (mandi) into a lab, setting up ink staining and microscopes for people to see. I found the characteristic tree-like structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a root, and ran outside to tell the crowd of over 20 farmers and agronomists to take a look.
From lab to field
Having confirmed that the fungi were present in Pusa 1 basmati, and with advice from Tilda’s local agronomists, we decided to test two locally available “mycorrhizae” biofertilisers in 31 pilot farms.
We visited the farmers involved in this pilot in September 2025. In Uttar Pradesh, we visited the family farm of Bhoti Devi, a female farmer, and gathered under a tree for shade while discussing field observations with her and some other farmers in the area.
The farmers told me that the rice with added mycorrhizae biofertiliser appeared to have increased root growth and a higher number of tillers (branches of the rice plant), indicating a potential boost in yields. I shared images from my own tests in Cambridge which showed similar results. It was so exciting to share and compare our observations.
In Haryana, ten farmers similarly described improved root growth. This visible improvement gives us and farmers confidence that these biofertilisers could be improving crop performance while water-saving techniques are being used. Now, we’re gathering data from this season to confirm these initial observations.
Our next steps for the biofertiliser testing are two-fold: to investigate whether we can apply them to reduce the use of synthetic fertiliser, and to examine the composition and sustainability of the available commercial biofertiliser products. This will ensures they reduce the use of synthetic fertiliser and associated greenhouse gas emissions. With more than 4,000 farmers in Tilda’s network, tests can be scaled up to assess the effects of reduced synthetic fertiliser on rice yields.
Translating our lab-based research into a real-world, scalable application is a dream scenario. From breeding programmes at IRRI in the Philippines to farmer fields in India, water-saving rice systems like direct seeding and alternate wetting and drying are promoting the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in rice roots.
Together with rice farmers in India, we can explore how to use more natural biofertilisers to reduce synthetic fertilisers and build more sustainable farming systems.
This article was amended on January 6 to clarify that tillers refers to branches of the rice plant not the farming machinery as previously stated.
Top image: Ramphal. a rice farmer from Chamrori vilaage in India. Credit: Tilda, CC BY-NC-ND
The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
In Conversation With: Henry Grover
Our latest short film ‘Held by Nature, Shaped by Hands‘ was shot by the brilliant Henry Grover, who first approached us with a curiosity about Ponda and our supply chain. We had been searching for the best way to communicate what we do and who we are, without overcomplicating it, so this collaboration came at the perfect time.
What struck me most, and what Henry instinctively understood, is the sheer breadth of skill behind Ponda: engineers, agriculture specialists, designers. The people who make Ponda what it is are just as vital as the materials and processes themselves.
When people ask what Ponda does, I often struggle to offer a neat elevator pitch. I find myself jumping between regenerative agriculture, wetlands, biomaterials… because so many hands, minds, and disciplines feed into BioPuff. That’s why I was so excited to work with Henry to create a visual journey, one that captures the intimate, human-centred supply chain behind BioPuff. Each stage is crafted locally, just a few miles apart, by people working with care, skill, and intention. The process isn’t simply mechanical; it’s deeply human, grounded in collaboration and a sense of place.
In September, we took Henry to our team harvest at the RSPB Greylake site, and then back to our unit to see how Typha is transformed into BioPuff. Inspired by ASMR, the importance of every detail, and those deeply satisfying sounds, we are thrilled with the final result. I had envisioned a short, sharp film that could summarise what Ponda does, but Henry far exceeded that, capturing the essence of our work without needing a single word.
What first interested you about Ponda and made you want to reach out?
I have always been drawn to the intersection of innovation and tradition. I love the idea of new technology streamlining a process to be more sustainable without compromising on the quality of the end product.
When I first discovered Ponda and BioPuff, it felt like a perfect case study for that balance. It’s rare to find a brand that is literally growing the future of textiles from the ground up. This excited me from a storytelling perspective; I didn’t just want to show the product, but the ‘how’ and the ‘who’ – showcasing the intricate steps of the process and the passionate people driving the company forward.
How important was sound in helping you tell the story of the supply chain?
Sound is often the unsung hero of short-form film. In an era where so much content is consumed on mute via a phone screen, I wanted to create a soundcape that demands the viewer’s attention. I used sound as a transition to bridge the gap between the organic wetlands and the mechanical workshop. Without the layers of audio, you lose the tactile feel of the film. The audio makes it less of a highlights video and more of a film that immerses you in the process.
Was it challenging to capture each person’s role in just a matter of seconds?
It’s a constant balancing act. When you’re condensing a complex, multi-stage production line into 60 seconds, every frame has to earn its place. The challenge lies in juggling establishing shots, which give the viewer a sense of scale, with detailed shots that highlight the craftsmanship of Ponda.
I find that much of today’s content cuts too aggressively, losing the moments to breathe. My goal was to maintain a high energy without sacrificing the viewer’s ability to actually see the hands and faces behind the work.
From a technical perspective, what were the biggest challenges of shooting in such varied environments?
Aside from falling over in waders within five minutes of arriving at the wetlands, the real technical hurdle was maintaining visual cohesion across very different locations and lighting environments. I achieved this by shooting 90% of the film handheld, staying close to the action and tracking movements to create an organic flow.
I chose to shoot this on vintage Canon lenses from the 1980s. While they are slower to operate than modern glass, they provide a unique internal glow and a softer, more human aesthetic. This helped bridge the gap between the raw, natural environment of the plants and the industrial machinery of the workshop, making the entire journey feel like one continuous story.
How did you decide on the visual pacing, especially between organic and mechanical moments?
Pace is everything. If the film is constant high-speed movement, the viewer gets fatigued. I wanted to build in moments of stillness where a static wide shot allows the eye to rest and take in the environment. Ramping up the speed as the film went on was a way to mirror Ponda’s process. Starting slow in the wetlands and ramping up the speed as the machinery gets larger was a way to help the film move forward as Ponda’s process gets more intricate.
The final shot, which circles back to the origin of the process, is intended to serve as a full-circle moment of reflection on the regenerative nature of their work.
What do you hope viewers take away from this film?
I hope it encourages people to pause and consider the biography of their clothing. Fast fashion has disconnected us from the environmental cost of our wardrobes. By tracing the supply chain back to the source, we can make more informed, intentional choices about quality and longevity.
Furthermore, in an era of AI and automation where there’s a lot of pessimism about the fading crafts, I want this film to offer a sense of optimism. I want viewers to see that there are still people deeply invested in the craft of making things better, more sustainably, and with genuine passion.
The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
Scientists at the Earlham Institute and the John Innes Centre are pioneering powerful single-cell visualisation techniques that could unlock higher yields of global wheat.
Firmly in their sights is the longstanding question that has perplexed the wheat research community: Why do grains at the bottom of the spike fail to achieve full size compared to those higher up?
Previous studies have analysed wheat tissue in bulk (taking dissected tissue pieces in their entirety), limiting image resolution, and increasing the likelihood of unclear results.
Published in The Plant Cell, the collaboration applied spatial transcriptomics, a powerful, emerging technology that visualises tissues at single cell resolution in situ, so that they can be observed fully in context of their location in the plant.
The technique is fraught with difficulties because plants have very tough cell walls and are prone to produce fluorescence which obscures results. Despite the challenges, the research team successfully mapped the expression of 200 genes in a set of wheat spikes at different development stages.
Their findings reveal highly distinct expression patterns across spikes, information which will help answer why basal spikelets (the structures at the base of the spike) often only produce rudimentary structures instead of harvestable grain, even though they are the first to form during development.
2.5 billion people depend on wheat as a source of food and as global populations grow, demand is expected to rise by over 60% by 2050. By offering a blueprint as to how the wheat spike forms, the study will be crucial to improving wheat yields as scientists worldwide race to increase crop productivity.
A key priority was ensuring the data remains open access and available as a resource for future research and industry. To facilitate this, the team created a new platform where researchers worldwide can access and build upon these findings.
Team science is at the heart of this research success. Co-first author Ashleigh Lister, Senior Research Assistant at Earlham Institute, maximised the potential of the Vizgen MERSCOPE™, a spatial transcriptomic platform, to create protocols to observe gene expression in wheat tissue.
“A lot of the methods I have used in this paper have been previously only applied to mammals, but by pushing the technical capabilities to allow for non-model species types we can then answer a wider variety of research questions. By utilising spatial transcriptomics in the developing wheat spike, we are able to inform strategies for global food security,” said Ashleigh.
Co-first author Katie Long, Postgraduate Researcher at the John Innes Centre, prepared the samples and led the data analysis. Sample preparation involved dissecting up to a hundred plants a day and meticulously lining up tiny wheat spikes in a mold that was frozen into blocks before being prepared in 10-micron-thin sections to be analysed by the Vizgen MERSCOPE instrument.
“Despite the challenges that tricky plant tissues threw our way, we have successfully mapped expression of 200 genes across wheat spikes to cellular resolution. This work provides researchers with valuable gene expression data while promoting wider adoption of spatial techniques through our optimised methods,” she explained.
Dr Iain Macaulay, Group Leader at Earlham Institute, said: “This study is a prime example of how the expertise and infrastructure we have built up in our single-cell and spatial platforms can support the breadth of research happening on the Norwich Research Park. Spatial transcriptomics techniques have immense potential in the plant sciences and it has been a pleasure to see Ashleigh and Katie develop an amazing collaboration that has produced such beautiful data.”
Professor Cristóbal Uauy, Director of the John Innes Centre and corresponding author of the study, concluded: “This research is a perfect example of the power of our cross-institute programmes, which allow us to link across organisations and disciplines, answering more complex questions than we could achieve alone. By showing wheat’s genetic makeup in a new light and making these new resources accessible to others, we open a realm of possibilities for the global wheat community and plant scientists.”
Top image: Tissue of an individual wheat floret, 100um scale. The blue represents fluorescent staining for DNA withing the nuclei. The different coloured spots represent different genes from the 200 gene probe panel, being expressed in their subcellular locations in a method called MERFISH on Earlham Institute’s Vizgen MERSCOPETM platform.
This study was supported by the the European Research Council, Gatsby Foundation, and the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, through the cross-Institute Delivering Sustainable Wheat, Building Robustness in Crops (JIC), and Cellular Genomics (EI) research programmes.
This work was delivered via Transformative Genomics, the BBSRC funded National Bioscience Research Infrastructure at Earlham Institute by members of the Single-Cell and Spatial Analysis Group and Technical Genomics Group.
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LEAF’s Innovation Head becomes Agri-TechE’s new Chair
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Dr Helen Ferrier, Director of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) has been announced as the new Chair of Agri-TechE’s Stakeholder Group.
Helen follows in the footsteps of previous Chair, John Barrett, and takes up the reins as the fifth Chair, supporting the Agri-TechE team in gathering strategic perspectives from different elements of the value chain impacted by agri-tech.
With a rotating membership, invited representatives from across the Agri-TechE network are invited to join the discussions, share their insights about the opportunities and challenges, and help ensure Agri-TechE is staying aligned with – or indeed ahead of – the needs of the industry in terms of its activities and thinking.
Helen has an academic background in environmental science and epidemiology and was a research scientist at Imperial College London. She is currently a Board member of Niab and the Farm Data Principles council.
She has recently joined LEAF from her previous role as Chief Adviser for Science and Innovation at the National Farmers’ Union, where she worked for over 20 years leading its policy and advocacy work on science and research, biotechnology, food safety and data.
Dr Helen Ferrier
Director of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming)
“I was so pleased to be asked to chair this important Stakeholder Group for Agri-TechE, helping to drive collaboration and innovation within the sector globally” Helen commented.
“Agri-TechE and its members do so much to champion technological solutions to the urgent environmental sustainability and resilience questions facing farming and supply chains around the world.
In facilitating the conversations of the Stakeholder Group, I will be able to play my part in turning challenges into opportunities through fostering connections, sharing of insights and priorities, and always focussing on the art of the possible.”
Agri-TechE’s Director of Communities, Becky Dodds welcomed the appointment, commenting, “Helen has been a long-standing supporter of Agri-TechE, in fact she was a speaker at one of our very first events over a decade ago. She brings a wealth of experience across many of the aspects of the value chain in which we operate, from research to farming, to having input into policy.”
The Agri-TechE Stakeholder Group meetings will be held around the UK, offering opportunities for members to engage in state-of-the-nation discussions and share peer-to-peer insights, as well as supporting Agri-TechE’s strategic direction.
Post Overview
16th January 2026
Agri-TechE
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The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
Paul-Tech’s science-based soil stations, designed to support farmers’ decision-making, will soon receive a significant upgrade with the introduction of a third sensor.
Paul-Techcontinues to develop its science-based soil stations and the data platform that supports farmers. New stations, whose production began in December 2025, now include the option to add a third sensor, enabling the monitoring of soil water and nutrient dynamics at three different depths.
This enhancement provides farmers with an even more detailed real-time overview of how water and nutrients move through the soil profile, helping them better understand how fertilisation practices and weather conditions affect soil status and plant nutrition.
“Understanding how nutrient and soil water processes actually function is crucial in agriculture,” explains Tiit Plakk, Head of Science at Paul-Tech. “The third sensor allows us to observe changes across a wider soil profile and see how the upper, middle, and deeper soil layers interact. This helps farmers make even more precise, data-driven decisions and is particularly important as periods of drought and excessive rainfall become more frequent.”
According to Paul-Tech CEO Mikk Plakk, farmers using soil stations with two sensors do not need to worry about data sufficiency. “Two-sensor stations already provide a very good overview of water and nutrient dynamics within the crop root zone and strongly support day-to-day decision-making,” Plakk explains. “The third sensor is an additional option for those who want a deeper, scientifically validated understanding of whether and how nutrients move into deeper soil layers. Adding a third sensor is a natural step in Paul-Tech’s development and is offered to customers as an additional service.”
Paul-Tech is a science-based agricultural platform that enables farmers to make more accurate daily decisions using real-time soil data. The company’s soil sensors are developed based on multiple generations of scientific research and allow farmers to measure fertiliser efficiency in crop production and monitor soil water and nutrient movement processes in real time.
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This story has been submitted by an Agri-TechE member.
The views expressed in this Member News article are the author's own and do not necessarily represent those of Agri-TechE.
In the rapidly evolving world of agricultural technology, laboratories play a critical role in driving innovation. From advancing plant genetics to ensuring sustainable farming practices, the success of research depends on the quality, accessibility, and integrity of data. However, many Agritech laboratories still rely on manual systems and spreadsheets that can limit productivity and increase the potential for human error.
Achiever LIMS, developed by our team here at Interactive Software, is helping to transform the way Agritech laboratories operate. Designed to meet the diverse and evolving needs of agricultural research, it provides digital workflows that enhance data accuracy, improve productivity, and ensure full compliance across all areas of agri-science.
Agritech laboratories require flexibility to manage complex and often unique scientific workflows. Whether handling soil analysis, seed germination testing, feed trials, or plant breeding experiments, every process must be traceable, efficient, and repeatable.
Achiever LIMS supports these diverse requirements through its laboratory automation capabilities, allowing users to configure and adapt workflows quickly.
Laboratories can manage multiple sample types within a single secure system, while automating repetitive processes and integrating directly with laboratory instruments and external systems through its API connectivity. This approach allows laboratories to operate in a way that aligns precisely with their scientific and operational goals, without being constrained by inflexible software.
Like all laboratories, those involved with Agritech rely on consistent and reliable data as the foundation of innovation. Achiever LIMS digitises the entire sample lifecycle, from collection and testing to reporting and storage, ensuring complete traceability and data integrity throughout the process.
Our Laboratory Execution System (LES) guides users through every step of standard operating procedures, enforcing good working practices and capturing critical information at every stage. The system’s dynamic audit trail and quality assurance features make it possible to review and reconstruct data histories at any point, providing transparency and regulatory confidence.
The biotechnology company, Tropic has recently implemented Achiever LIMS to support its mission of developing more sustainable and resilient tropical crops. Following implementation, Tropic reported improved data quality, faster reporting, and enhanced compliance, leading to greater research efficiency and confidence in results.
Transitioning from spreadsheets to a connected digital system represents a major step forward for any laboratory. Achiever LIMS provides a centralised, compliant, and structured platform that brings together every aspect of laboratory data management.
By consolidating data into a single source of information, laboratories gain real-time visibility across research projects, improve collaboration, and reduce manual input errors. Achiever LIMS also offers built-in dashboards and analytics tools, giving laboratory managers instant access to actionable insights that support faster, evidence-based decision-making.
To ensure a smooth and successful transition, the Interactive Software team partners closely with each customer, following a structured seven-step data migration process, from defining data goals and cleansing existing information to achieving a seamless migration and full validation within the new system.
Our implementation methodology is designed to deliver measurable results while reducing risk. Using a foundation-first approach, the process begins with the core capabilities of Achiever LIMS before adding tailored configurations that deliver specific operational benefits.
The structured implementation includes four key stages:
Foundation and discovery. Understanding laboratory goals, processes, and requirements.
Solution design and validation. Mapping workflows and testing against business needs.
Configuration and testing. Aligning the system with laboratory operations.
Deployment and enablement. Training teams and launching the live system.
Ongoing support, advanced training, and modular system expansion ensure that each laboratory continues to benefit as its needs evolve.
As agricultural research becomes increasingly data-driven, the ability to manage, interpret, and act on large volumes of information is vital. Achiever LIMS empowers researchers and laboratory staff to focus on science rather than administration, improving efficiency and reducing the time between discovery and result.
By delivering full traceability, audit readiness, and operational control, Achiever LIMS helps laboratories maintain compliance while achieving faster, more reliable outcomes. The system’s configurable design ensures that every laboratory can scale and adapt to meet changing scientific demands.
With over 20 years of experience supporting laboratories across a variety of highly-regulated industries, we continue to help Agritech organisations connect data, people, and processes, transforming laboratory operations through innovation and insight. For Agritech laboratories focused on innovation, Achiever LIMS ensures every sample, process, and result contributes to a more efficient and sustainable agricultural future.
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“Diamonds in a Paper Crown” at the OFC 2026
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“There are a lot of industry experts – including people in this room who can make this happen. Please. Make it happen.”
Such were the closing words from Baroness Minette Batters, following her talk at the Niab-hosted session at the Oxford Farming Conference 2026.
It was standing-room only as Baroness Batters gave a whistle-stop overview of her highly anticipated Farm Profitability Review (FPR) which was published just before Christmas.
The “diamonds on the crown” quote illustrated the pockets of excellence and inspiration across the industry, which sit within a context of fragmentation, heterogeneity and lack of a long-term farming plan for the UK.
Re-set and Re-engage
Central to the Review is the call for a reset for the economic model of farming and agriculture, and the role of other Government departments in addition to Defra to pull their respective levers to support the industry. This would include the Department for Business and Trade (among others) to help support and energise the business of farming, our exports and placing on an international stage, including farmers attending trade missions.
To try and summarise the key points in the FPR would be to do it a disservice, (you can read the entire report here) but the key principles include:
Grow the British brand at home and abroad through a national farm partnership.
Raise productivity through skills development, improved advice, research, innovation, and standardised metrics.
Embed the “Active Farmer” principle, which links food security and resilience to future farming schemes to ensure funding goes only to those actively farming the land.
Ensure fairness and transparency across supply chains to rebalance power between farmers, processors, and retailers.
Provide financial certainty via planning reforms and improved access to on-farm investment.
Celebrating the Sectors
Recognising that “one size doesn’t fit all” when it comes to supporting the complex, heterogeneous mix of industries across the sub sectors of farming and agriculture, the FPR calls for sector missions. These are based around real time market analysis and intelligence, matching supply and demand more effectively to enable the industry to meet market needs and opportunities in retail, out-of-home eating, government procurement and exports.
It is clear Baroness Batters has been impressed by the TEAGASC model in Ireland, where research, advice and training are integrated in one organisation. The parallels in England and Wales would mean closer working between TIAH (The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, the UK Agri-tech Centre, and the AHDB). Time will tell as to whether there is appetite and ambition to follow that model.
“Don’t ask – we won’t get”
With more of the national budget being directed towards defence and the NHS, there will be less for agriculture and horticulture. So, the FPR argues, yet more “asks” of government (of which 400 emerged during the review process) are unlikely to gain traction. And the critical importance of minimising wasted effort and increasing the targeted efficiency of government spend has never been more stark.
Finally, tribute was paid to the small Defra team who had supported the work of the FPR. An impressive and rapid upskilling of a relatively inexperienced (at least about farming) team demonstrated that you don’t need to be a farmer to become expert in farming.
So finally the report is out. Now the real work begins.
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9th January 2026
Agri-TechE
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Agri-Tech Adoption & Social Science
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