Development and demonstration of data-driven autonomous growing system to raise productivity and resource efficiency in commercial greenhouse horticulture. Dissemination of demonstration results across broad greenhouse sector.

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The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund's Transforming Food Production challenge seeks to produce resilient and sustainable food more efficiently to meet demands in 2050\. Greenhouses go a long way towards meeting this challenge.**Industrial-scale greenhouses** are the **only scalable solution** to meeting the accelerating demand for healthy, locally-grown food - and to **secure our food system against population growth and climate change**. In sizes up to 15 hectares (20 football pitches), greenhouses in the UK already produce \>£100M of vegetables each year.Through control of climate, irrigation and lighting, **greenhouses can create the ideal conditions for crop growth**, in all seasons, **alongside any city on earth**. Crops can be grown for nutritional content rather than transportability, at **10x the yield of field farming, using 90% less water and zero pesticides**.Given that food production must rise 50% by 2050, agriculture already accounts for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals, farmland is being contaminated by heavy pesticide use, and climate change is expected to significantly decrease the yields of field farming - greenhouses are the only scalable solution and are **essential to the UK's agricultural future**.This project will develop 1) **the world's first Autonomous Growing System(AGS)**; 2) **demonstrate the AGS** and 3) undertake a knowledge exchange program. The AGS will provide optimised data-driven growing for any crop variety, in any greenhouse, in any location - **significantly increasing production levels and resource-efficiency** in existing greenhouses, and **accelerating the deployment of new greenhouses in the UK** and around the world.The Industrial Challenge Strategy Fund seeks to invest in **world-leading research** and **highly-innovative businesses**. The partners in this project fit this description. Optimal Labs Limited is a UK SME at the **cutting-edge of greenhouse automation**; NIAB is the **UK's fastest growing crop sciences research body**; La Serra Limited operates the **UK's most modern greenhouse.**The project is supported at no cost to the UK taxpayer by experts from the Dutch horticultural industry. This **£2.75M project** aims to **elevate UK controlled environment agriculture to being the best globally** and therefore much more abundant, fulfilling the aims of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund's Transforming Food Production challenge **at the scale that only greenhouses can**.