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.

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**.