M&S employs precision ag to deliver eco-friendly parsnips in time for Christmas
The group claims it is the first UK retailer to trail ‘autonomous field’ technology to produce a lower carbon vegetable. The parsnips will be available in selected M&S stores this November.
The trial is the first M&S Food project to be funded by its ‘Plan A’ accelerator fund, which it launched this year to find innovative projects to help it to achieve its target of becoming net zero across its entire supply chain by 2040.
In partnership with its long-term root vegetable supplier, Huntapac, M&S planted the first batch of parsnips in Yorkshire in March.
The technology used in the project includes two robots for bed forming, planting and weeding; two types of drones to monitor and maintain crop health; and the latest scientific testing to measure soil health and carbon impact.
The new tech uses significantly less diesel than a traditional tractor to reduce carbon emissions, M&S said.
The trial adopts a minimum till approach to help keep carbon locked into the soil. A ‘green’ fertiliser is used that removes nitrogen dioxide from the air and converts it to nitrogen which is used by the plants for photosynthesis. Initial data shows 46% carbon reduction compared to standard methods.
Improved quality and quantity of crop yields
The use of the new technology has other benefits including improved quality and quantity of crop yields.
AI was used to monitor and improve crop health and the autonomous technology can reduce weather impact.
For example, in March this year, following the wettest six months in England since 1871, the team were able to get in and plant the field with the autonomous robot which wouldn’t have been possible with a traditional tractor.
This has also contributed to an increase in quality and number of parsnips and reduced waste, with a 16% higher yield of grade one vegetables compared to Huntapac’s other parsnip fields.
Latest tech can attract new talent
M&S said latest technologies offer a future of farming that will aid farmers, create more highly skilled jobs in the industry and attract new talent.
Andrew Clappen, technical director at M&S Food, said: “Projects like this help us move towards being a Net Zero business across all our operations and entire supply chain by 2040, whilst focussing on the quality of produce.
“Agriculture is one of our biggest contributors to emissions, so it’s important that we find new lower impact farming methods. Trialling new ways to support our Plan A roadmap to Net Zero is an important step on the journey and this project has helped deliver more parsnips at M&S quality, a carbon reduction and brings together new technologies which if adopted more widely would create more highly skilled jobs and attract new talent into the sector.”
Stephen Shields, technical and sustainability director at Huntapac, added: “Not only are we seeing a reduction of the carbon impact but more parsnips at higher quality, due to us being able to plant the seeds despite bad weather earlier this year. This would have a fantastic impact on our business at scale and we’re aiming to deliver multiple fields farmed this way for next season.”
