Reduced productivity in agriculture and the need for technology in farming - Raphie Kaplinsky

Raphie is a Professorial Fellow at Sussex University. His recent book, 'Sustainable Futures: An Agenda for Action', was chosen as one of the 10 best books of 2021 by the respected Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf. Raphie's research has focused on the need for new technology in farming in order to reverse the declining trends in production and sustainability. 
Raphie will be giving an introduction to the wider issues facing sectors like agriculture and how the crucial work Sam and the Small Robot Company are doing is helping to address some of these issues. 

Per Plant Farming and the Small Robot Company - Sam Watson Jones

Sam Watson Jones is a fourth generation farmer from Shropshire and a Co-Founder of Small Robot Company. The business was started in 2017 to explore the potential of Per Plant Farming for arable crops, and has since grown to a team of 50 people, with £11m raised in total to date, including investment from around 300 farmers over several fundraising rounds. Today, the business is delivering services to three farms in Wiltshire and Hampshire, but has ambitions to grow this significantly in the coming years. Sam will discuss the potential for Per Plant Farming on the way that we produce food, and the technologies that are supporting the global transition to this new way of farming, and also provide an update on the work that Small Robot Company is doing to try to accelerate this change