Rural Payments and Services

Agricultural development projects aiming to tackle climate change and increase competitiveness have received funding worth more than £240,000.

The four projects received grants from the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund, which encourages rural businesses to work together and share their knowledge and skills.

The successful projects are:

• Scottish Organic Dairy Goals 2023, facilitated by Scottish Organic Milk Producers. Awarded £28,427.25.
• Agroecology: strengthening livelihoods, facilitated by Nourish Scotland. Awarded £145,650 for its work encouraging farmers, growers and crofters to work together to adopt more agroecological practices.
• Data Driven Decisions in Potatoes, facilitated by Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS). Awarded £25,575. Aims to help potato growers become more productive and sustainable, reducing their impact on the environment.
• Decarbonising Scottish Malting Barley production, facilitated by SAOS. Awarded £43,260. Aims to help arable growers transition to lower carbon production systems for malting barley.

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison visited Marshill Farm, North Lanarkshire, to mark this announcement.

The farm is part of the Scottish Organic Dairy Goals 2023 project, a network of 21 organic dairy producers that share ideas and techniques to become more efficient and improve their environmental practices. The network was awarded more than £28,000.

Ms Robison said:

“Congratulations to all recipients of the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund. Industry-led projects such as these prove that agriculture and strong environmental practices can go hand in hand. By providing this funding, the Scottish Government aims to help them share knowledge – supporting innovation and allowing them to become more efficient.

“We are determined to support our rural communities and businesses, which play an important role in achieving a growing, fairer and greener economy with wellbeing at its heart. That is why we are developing a Rural Delivery Plan, which will show how all parts of the Scottish Government are delivering for rural Scotland.”