The Innovation Team at Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) has been undertaking a period of stakeholder engagement within the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) sector and across relevant parties to deliver solutions that support the sector. The aim is to underpin collaborative innovation in ‘upscaling CEA’, understand critical emerging challenges for growers and technologists, and develop a business case for CHAP in this area.
This period of engagement culminated in a first stakeholder workshop, on the 28th April, which, due to the lockdown, was conducted virtually, rather than in person.
With reference to wide-ranging sectoral challenges, such as operational pressures, resource efficiency and developing varieties optimised for CEA, CHAPs innovation team and a broad and representative group of stakeholders worked together to fully understand the problem.
A number of key sector barriers, and a lack of cross-sector integration and enabling infrastructure, are currently preventing CEA from fulfilling its potential to supply the UK food system with diverse, sustainable and affordable food, with maximum carbon neutrality. It is hoped that the sessions with stakeholders will be able to profile options that CHAP could deliver collaboratively with the sector.
These developed options will be shortlisted, developed and appraised in the second workshop, and will form the basis for a business case for CHAP and the sector, to be developed over the coming months.
CHAP’s CEA solution has a range of capabilities, all working to expand the boundaries of what can be grown in controlled environments, with a focus on commercial viability. For more information, go to Advanced Glasshouse, IHCEA, NLG Centre, and Vertical Farming Development Centre, or email enquiries@chap-solutions.co.uk
CHAP