Harper Adams University

As a leading agriculture-focused university, Harpers Adams has applied its research and teaching skills to design, produce and test new agricultural engineering applications. These include autonomous vehicles, drones and sensors applied to pest control and plant health – all developed in response to the challenge of food security in today’s world.

The University adopts both a theoretical and practical methodology, encouraged by its location on its own 550-hectare farm. It takes a lead in developing new technology and approaches such as the unique ‘Hands Free Hectare’ project, which has used only robots and drones to grow a barley crop.

The technologies being developed by the University provide practical benefits in livestock and crop production and contribute to the reduction of harmful impacts on the environment, such as lessening the use of chemical pesticides. The University hosts the National Centre for Precision Farming, combining excellent bioscience research with novel engineering solutions to further revolutionise agriculture. It actively communicates these developments to the farming sector and encourages innovation and the acceptance of new technologies in this traditional and vital industry.