MSZ Business Forum discuss agritech support and services
Midlothian businesses joined the MSZ Business Forum on Tuesday 4th May to learn more about the services and support of Agri-EPI Centre and the Northern Hub to enable greater innovation in agriculture.
Guest speaker, Lisa Williams, Director of Business Development at Agri-EPI Centre, outlined the team’s specialised knowledge and expertise as one of the UK’s four Agri-Tech Centres of Agricultural Innovation to accelerate business.
Agri-EPI’s objective is to be an enabler, ensuring that the UK grows as a world leader in precision agriculture and engineering through research and development, demonstration, training and education.
Agri-EPI has a vast Partner Network including many recognised brands from food suppliers to academic institutions and engineers and technologists accounting for a combined turnover of over £470 billion.
The four strategic pillars under which they operate includes the Northern Hub’s Aquaculture Genetics Research Facility, located within Midlothian Science Zone at Easter Bush, designed to research cold and warm water farmed fish including disease resistance and genome editing.
Other Hubs drive research and development in agri-robotics and engineering, precision crop technology and livestock farming. The wide geographic and commodity coverage of Agri-EPI’s engagement, measurement and testing model reaches all the corners of the UK using satellite farms for dairy, livestock, crops and horticulture to gather precision farming data. The reach does not stop there with international partnerships spanning from China to the USA.
The challenges of disease, climate change, technological impact and commercialisation of the agri-food industry mean that the UK needs to stay at the forefront to maintain their world leading position for a growing world population.
Research and expertise within Midlothian Science Zone is helping to deliver solutions to global challenges within livestock industries and both veterinary and human medicine.
The MSZ Business Forum was launched in December 2020 to create an opportunity for discussion, collaboration and awareness of other businesses within the zone.
We will be releasing further details and the theme of our next Business Forum event soon and hope that in time we will be able to host these events in person at partner venues in the zone.
Did you miss this MSZ Business Forum?
To find out more about research, expertise or business support 'in the zone', and to be kept informed of forthcoming events or opportunities for collaboration, please email Emma McCallum, MSZ Project Coordinator.