Farming Monthly National July 2017 | Page 9

| News Smart water mapping and improving the market place for edible surplus GROW agri-tech business plan winners tackle real-world problems. ifting sub-Saharan farmers out of poverty by creating a market for their surplus and a water sensor that can create moisture maps from the air, were the two winning business plans at GROW - the UK’s agri-tech business plan competition. GROW was developed by Agri-Tech East to stimulate and support entrepreneurship in agriculture and horticulture. L “There was a strong line-up of finalists who presented very innovative business concepts, we will look forward to following their progress” Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-Tech East, said that the entries this year were looking at global challenges: “Smart water use, enhancing data available for decision support and improving profitability by finding markets for www.farmingmonthly.co.uk edible waste were strong themes among the entries this year. “Many were looking for partners and investors for pilot studies and this is where the agri-tech cluster in the east of England is particularly strong. Our membership inclu