Sustainable Futures Challenge (SFC) Launch Event

The Challenge

Are you interested collaborative problem-solving and for a more sustainable future? Use your skills and passion to work with people of various backgrounds to solve agri-tech problems and create impact. With the help of experts your idea will be grown into an applicable tech solution and business model over the course of 3 workshops. Each team will be able to present their concept at CUTEC's Technology Ventures Conference on June 26th 2015.

For more information on the challenge visit: http://www.cutec.org/events/sustainable-futures-challenge

The Launch Event

Join us to find out more about the Sustainable Futures Challenge and to listen to keynote speeches by soil expert Professor Jane Rickson of Cranfield University and Ron Stobart of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. A wine and cheese reception will follow the event.

This Year's Challenges

Studies show that compost use in arable rotations can improve yields and resilience. Tons of organic, compostable material is thrown out in cities every day. How can we create an economical way to sort and get organic waste from cities to farms?

The physical structure of soil affects crop development and yields.  Detailed soil structure tests can be performed in labs, but this is time consuming and costly. Can we make better in-the-field tool(s) to let allow farmers to check soil structure and resilience?

Cover-cropping is a great way to rehabilitate soil and can provide wide ranging benefits in farming systems. The most success often comes with mixing multiple species; however, these species have seeds of different sizes and shapes which makes it difficult to spread them evenly using current technology. Can we create a way to make it practical for farmers to sow seeds of different sizes?