Light Science Technologies Holdings PLC (AIM:LST) said its previously announced funding grant of £503,000 was awarded to its controlled environment agriculture (CEA) division by the innovation agency Innovate UK as part of its Farming Initiative Pathway (FIP) consortium for more sustainable and efficient plant growth in the UK agricultural sector.
The grant will be used to develop CEA’s intelligent LED grow-lighting cloche product, a retrofittable, all-in-one lighting-sensing-automation rig designed for polytunnels and glasshouses, LSTH said in a statement.
The cloche will extend the growing season, enabling farmers to grow all year round as well as a wider variety of produce.
This could increase yields from 2-3 to 8+ yields per year and reduce the need for import substitution, harvesting machinery, pathogen infiltration and utilising UVC-lighting disease management.
“Due to the shorter growing seasons, unpredictable climatic conditions and heavy reliance on manual labour processes, the UK struggles to produce enough food to meet demand,” commented Simon Deacon, CEO of LSTH.
“We are delighted to have been selected for funding by Innovate UK, which is testament to the potential value of the cloche product in alleviating both these national issues and extending our routes to market.”
The initial potential UK market includes over 4,000 industrial growers, while the total market size for polytunnel in Europe is worth a potential £2.96bn in 2022 with a predicted compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% from 2021-28, LSTH said.
The cloche is being developed as part of a contract and consortium between LSTH, Zenith Nurseries and Morrish Engineering, which began in November 2021 with a potential value of up to £13.84mln.
Once developed, the cloche has the potential to generate both significant one-off hardware revenues and recurring revenues from growers, lasting up to 25 years, the company said.
LSTH also announced that it is strengthening its CEA team with the appointment of Chuanching Foo as senior scientist, where she will take on full responsibility for the running and management of the CEA division's onsite lab facilities, where new crop testing is carried out.
Chuanching will also be supporting the company's ongoing efforts to improve the quality, flavour, and freshness of produce for CEA growers and farmers in polytunnel, glasshouse and vertical farming.
LSTH shares were 1.67% higher at 15.25p in morning trade.