Work begins on Agri-Tech hub

Posted 17 January 2020

Work has begun on infrastructure to support the Ni-Park, a world leading agri-tech research and innovation hub supported by Harper Adams University. The continued development of Harper Adams University, with its successful agri-tech research programme and Agri-Engineering and Precision Farming Centre for Innovation, has created an opportunity to bring high value jobs to Newport through the creation of a cluster of high tech businesses on the new innovation site.

Dr David Llewellyn, Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams University, said: “This collaboration will enable industry and academia to find the right solutions to not only develop future food production systems, but also to find ways in which those systems can protect our natural resources, improve biodiversity and help us all in the challenge of tackling climate change.”

Ni-Park is a key element of the Newport Innovation and Enterprise Package (‘NIEP’) which secured £6.36m funding from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership under the Local Growth Fund, matched by investment from Telford & Wrekin Council. The site’s strong links with Harper Adams University will provide opportunities for leading high efficiency agri-tech research and innovation through the University’s partners and students.

“We will be supporting the Local Authority to create an ecosystem for agri-tech innovation at Ni-Park that will build upon ground-breaking research conducted by the University,” continued Dr Llewellyn. “This includes the world-leading Hands Free Hectare experiment, which has now been extended to a farm-scale project that will run for the next three years and the recent launch of our Global Institute for Agri-Tech Economics, which is improving our understanding of new food production methods.”

As well as Harper Adams University, the Ni Park development is also supported by Telford & Wrekin Council and the Marchers Local Enterprise Partnership.