Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, to support the agri-food sector.

The development and adoption of innovative UK agri-technologies is key to supporting the UK agri-food sector to boost farm productivity and economic growth. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and Defra work closely together to support the sector.

This includes the Defra-funded Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) which is delivered by UKRI and provides grants to support innovative technologies and practices which increase farming productivity, sustainability and resilience. This Government will allocate at least £200m to FIP by 2030.

This Government is also supporting the development of robotics, automation and AI which have the potential to increase productivity and reduce labour needs in agriculture and horticulture. The Regulatory Innovation Office, part of DSIT announced Robotics as one of its priorities this year and will be working with Defra on issues for the Agri-tech sector.