Defra has confirmed at least £21.5 million for 15 innovation projects in England under the Farming Innovation Programme with Innovate UK. The funding is intended to move applied research into tools farmers can use to cut emissions, improve resilience and raise productivity, and is presented by ministers as part of the Plan for Change and a contribution to long‑term food security.
In delivery terms, the awards back two sets of projects: precision breeding initiatives and low‑emissions farming systems. Defra highlighted examples ranging from provitamin D3‑enriched ‘Sunshine Tomato’ plants to climate‑resilient industrial hemp, signalling a push to translate laboratory advances into commercial field and glasshouse use.
Projects were selected through two Farming Futures Fund competitions launched in April 2025. One stream focused on precision breeding, the other on low‑emissions farming, with Innovate UK administering the competitions on Defra’s behalf. The department describes the portfolio as collaborative, with business, growers and research partners delivering trials across English sites.
Precision breeding is defined by government as a set of techniques, including gene editing, that can make genetic changes which could arise through traditional breeding but in a more targeted way. It does not introduce genes from other species. Following the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act, this represents the first bespoke competition of its kind within Defra’s programme.
Within the precision breeding cohort, John Innes Enterprises will develop and commercialise a CRISPR‑edited tomato enriched with provitamin D3, positioned as an early candidate for approval under the new precision breeding regime. Precision Plants will pursue higher‑value, climate‑resilient hemp varieties to widen opportunities in food, fibre and biomaterials and reduce import dependence.
Other precision breeding awards include work led by British Sugar on gene‑edited resistance to Virus Yellows in sugar beet, Bofin Farmers’ oilseed rape lines designed to reduce susceptibility to light leaf spot, and QUBERTECH’s programme to engineer temperate dandelions for natural rubber production. Cambridge Glasshouse Company’s AUTOTOM project couples compact precision‑bred tomato plants with automated greenhouse systems to cut labour demand and raise yields, while Newcleic’s ExtendDNA aims to speed production of long DNA sequences to enable complex crop traits.
The low‑emissions farming portfolio targets methane, nitrous oxide and nutrient losses through changes to feed, fertiliser and waste management. McArthur Agriculture’s consortium will test UK‑grown faba bean ingredients rich in condensed tannins to reduce enteric methane in dairy systems. Oxcel will trial hyper‑oxygenated nanobubble drinking water to support gut health and feed conversion in pigs and poultry.
Further emissions projects will replace a portion of synthetic nitrogen with biological alternatives, develop biochar‑based fertilisers for cereals, and demonstrate circular models for rewetted peatlands. HydroStar Europe’s HyDigest seeks to convert anaerobic digestate into a low‑carbon fertiliser while boosting on‑farm energy; WASE will scale electromethanogenic reactor technology to process manures and crop residues more efficiently; and CCM Technologies’ CLEAR‑FARM will turn livestock slurry into a safe, nutrient‑rich, carbon‑negative fertiliser.
Award values published by Defra range from around £0.84 million to just under £2 million per project across partners, with examples including £1.96 million for HyDigest and £1.90 million for WASE’s reactor scale‑up. Defra states the overall package totals at least £21.5 million, with projects expected to run trials on working farms and in controlled environments.
Defra published indicative impacts alongside several projects. The faba bean feed consortium estimates that using UK‑grown ingredients could reduce dairy sector emissions by up to 1.6 million tonnes CO2e a year at scale, with a 10 percent reduction equivalent to about 875,000 tCO2e annually. WASE targets up to 30 percent more biomethane than conventional anaerobic digestion. These projections will be tested through trials before any wider deployment.
Governance and delivery sit with Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered by Innovate UK under UK Research and Innovation. Innovate UK’s leadership emphasises the drive to move precision breeding and low‑emissions technologies from research into real‑world use so farmers and agri‑businesses can compete and grow.
The announcement follows nearly £2.3 million awarded to 30 projects in December through the first round of the government’s ADOPT Fund, where farmers are testing new practices from lower‑emission machinery to digital decision‑support tools. Taken together, ministers present these measures as support for rural growth and food security under the Plan for Change.
For farm businesses and supply‑chain partners, the signal is practical. Precision breeding routes created by the Act now have early commercial candidates moving through regulatory steps, while emissions‑focused projects will generate evidence on fertiliser substitution, manure treatment and feed reformulation. Organisations not funded in this round should track forthcoming Farming Futures Fund competitions and engage with consortia where trials align with business plans.