Announcing the finalists during the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit on September 29, Natalie Smith, Tesco’s Head of Agriculture said: “In such a critical year for tackling climate change and championing sustainability, it’s never been more important to identify and collaborate with innovators who can make a real difference in agricultural supply chains. We all recognise innovative technology can play a pivotal role in securing a sustainable agricultural industry, so we’re delighted to see so much potential in these eight finalists.”   

Now in its fourth year, the Tesco Agri T-Jam is a startup pitch competition held in partnership with the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit, seeking agri-tech startups with innovative technologies that can improve supply chain efficiency and sustainability, and support production of affordable, healthy, sustainable food for Tesco’s customers. The dynamic early-stage innovators selected have a valuable opportunity to gain fast-track access to Tesco’s supply chain, with mentoring from the Tesco Agriculture team.

Meet the finalists with breakthrough technologies in novel fertilisers, tree vaccines, AI and sensor technologies and biodiversity scoring:

• Greengage (UK) produces innovative lighting and welfare sensor technology that delivers outcome-based measures for animal welfare.
• Iceni Earth’s (UK) digital platform enables farmers to assess, measure and improve biodiversity on their land. Each farm receives an aggregated credit score for biodiversity, which can then be shared with the value chain from farm to fork.
• Sylgen Animal Health (UK) has developed advanced microbial technology which transforms toxic farm slurry into an aerobic liquid compost, capturing valuable plant nutrients, saving slurry management and fertiliser costs, reducing its environmental impact and restoring soil health for more sustainable food production.
• BIO-F (UK) develops biofertilisers with natural algae able to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and share it with crops, along with other key nutrients. Directly isolated from farmers’ fields, BIO-F’s algae act as slow-release fertilisers to replenish soil health and fertility.
• Crop Intellect (UK) uses its R-Leaf technology applied to plant foliage to capture the atmospheric pollutant NOx and convert it into plant feed in the form of nitrate, resulting in enhanced yield, and reduced air and soil pollution.
• ADAL by Farm4Trade (Italy) uses A.I. to acquire images of pathological lesions in the organs of slaughtered animals. This meat inspection solution is capable of analysing and scoring the images to produce feedback.
• NetWord Agro (Brazil) uses digital soil monitoring technology to identify the real availability of nutrients for extension crops through a proprietary electric conductivity portable sensor.
• Silvec (USA) has developed the first technology for vaccinating trees without genetically modifying them using a novel RNA therapy similar to Covid vaccines, where a single application can provide lifetime protection against many of the deadliest diseases.

And the winner was revealed as... Crop Intellect, and its R-Leaf disruptive technology.