Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund

Date published: 4 July, 2025

The Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund has two separate aims.

Knowledge Transfer Projects:

These projects must aim to promote skills development and knowledge transfer in the primary agricultural sector.

This will be achieved through provision of funding to organisations to deliver vocational training, coaching, workshops, courses and farm visits designed to develop skills, transfer knowledge and encourage knowledge exchange.

Innovation Projects:

These projects must aim to deliver innovative on-the-ground improvements in agricultural competitiveness, resource efficiency, environmental performance and sustainability.

Funding support will meet the running costs of operational groups seeking to implement innovative projects in these areas. Operational groups can be made up of different individuals or organisations within agriculture who are working collaboratively.

This helps form partnerships between farmers, crofters, land managers, Non-Governmental Organisations, advisers and businesses working on the ground.

These operational groups are expected to provide new insights and deliver innovative approaches and ideas, as well as mobilising practical on-the-ground solutions.

If you have any queries or questions please contact the KTIF project team. Details can be found below in the contact section.

Further information about operational groups and collaboration can be found in the ‘innovation projects’ guidance and at: Operational Groups | EU CAP Network and on the ‘innovation projects’ guidance page.

KTIF - New Funding Window - Summer 2025

  • applicants may submit a short inception note (one side of A4 – see form KTIF 1) to KTIF@gov.scot to get informal feedback on proposals in advance of submitting a full application with associated forms
  • applicants should download the KTIF application forms from the forms page linked below to ensure that they are using current forms
  • your final application, costings spreadsheet and communications plan should be submitted no later than 23:59 on 7 September 2025. All three documents should be emailed to KTIF@gov.scot
  • the Project Assessment Committee (PAC) will meet to consider all final applications. This is provisionally planned for late September

Multi-Year Funding Arrangements

  • phased or modular projects can be delivered over a period that extends beyond the end of this financial year but will be awarded in principle only beyond this financial year and will be subject to budgetary confirmation in future years
  • at the beginning of each new financial year, project leads for multi-year projects must wait until they receive confirmation from the KTIF team that project activity can commence
  • tangible outputs (for example, dissemination events) are expected for each financial year of the project and the profile of delivery should be laid out in the application for each financial year to make clear what deliverables will be achieved each year

Additional Requirements and Information for Applicants

  • applicants mush have a Business Reference Number (BRN) with correct bank details registered via Rural Payments & Services before applying
  • funding for individual projects will be capped at £200K per year
  • Knowledge Transfer project applications are eligible for 75% funding under KTIF; and Innovation projects are eligible for 100% funding under KTIF
  • all projects must complete and submit:
    • an application form (KTIF 2)
    • an application costing form (KTIF 5)
    • a communications plan (including details on how your project will be disseminated through the Farm Advisory Service and the Scottish Rural Network)
  • forms and scheme guidance can be found by following the link further down this webpage

Funding window guidelines

We will be accepting applications under any of the 5 KTIF objectives, but may prioritise applications under objectives that relate to tackling the climate emergency (objectives b-e). Please note that there is no requirement to align to more than one of these objectives. The objectives are:

a) Enhancing competitiveness and enhancing viability in agriculture

b) Restoring, preserving and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystems dependant on agriculture

c) Improving water and/or soil management

d) Pollution prevention and control

e) Promoting resource efficiency and supporting a shift towards a low carbon and climate resilient economy in agriculture

Knowledge Transfer projects can take the form of:

  • training courses, workshops and coaching
  • demonstration activities that can take place on a farm, croft or by virtual means
  • knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange activities aiming to disseminate information concerning agriculture and crofting. These activities can take the form of exhibitions, meetings, presentations, or can take the form of printed information and electronic media
  • farm and croft visits to learn about specific ways of doing things that may be of benefit to others

Please note, no capital or participant costs will be funded

Innovation projects can take the form of:

  • measures that aim to introduce innovative approaches and result in improvements to efficiency, effectiveness and/or environmental performance
  • agricultural demonstration/benchmarking and similar types of projects
  • all innovation projects must form an Operational Group [BH1] with farmers, crofters and land managers taking the lead in delivering innovations
  • experimental and/or pilot projects that aim to introduce new and/or innovative approaches in agricultural practice
  • piloting a solution to deal with a particular issue
  • trying something new to take advantage of a specific innovation opportunity

Please note, no capital or participant costs will be funded.

Some examples of eligible co-ordinating bodies are:

  • an agricultural levy body
  • an enterprise company
  • a non-profit organisation

Applications will be considered by the Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund (KTIF) Project Assessment Committee (PAC). The remit for the PAC is:

a) to consider and determine applications for funding under KTIF, including the level of grant and any conditions to be imposed

b) to monitor operation of the Scheme and consider any adjustments needed to achieve its objectives more effectively

Previous KTIF projects

You can find the reports for previous KTIF projects on the Farm Advisory Service website.

Full scheme guidance

Full guidance

In advance of applying, you may wish to submit a short inception note following the template which can be found on the KTIF form page.

  • KTIF - Inception Note Template

The following forms for this scheme can be found on the KTIF forms page.

  • application form: KTIF 2
  • additional information form: KTIF 2a
  • request for change form: KTIF 3
  • claim form: KTIF 4
  • application costing form: KTIF 5