Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle has announced the opening of the latest Farming Innovation Programme competition, with £13 million available to help promising agricultural innovations to move closer to market.

The competition aims to help bring new technology from the lab to the farm, giving farmers practical tools to tackle some of the challenges they face every day.

High potential projects will be awarded with grants of £1-3 million to help researchers, farmers and agri-tech businesses develop new products and services to improve productivity, resilience and sustainability on farms.

Previous rounds have funded robots picking tomatoes, using hoverflies as natural pest control in berry crops and a new vaccine being developed to protect pigs against Streptococcus suis.

The funding is delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: "This funding will take brilliant ideas off the drawing board and put them to the test on farms, turning cutting-edge research into practical solutions that farmers can use.

"As set out in the Farming Roadmap, we’re backing the people turning ideas into action, helping farmers boost productivity, build resilience and meet the challenges of tomorrow."

Chris Danks, Head of Agrifood at Innovate UK said: "Innovation is critical to supporting a productive, resilient and competitive farming sector.

"By bringing together farmers, researchers and agri-tech businesses, this competition will help turn cutting-edge ideas into practical solutions that address the challenges facing agriculture today.  

"Working in partnership with Defra, Innovate UK is supporting the development and commercialisation of innovations that can drive growth, improve sustainability and strengthen UK food production for the future."