Tesco UK CEO Ashwin Prasad is calling on the food industry to work together to help farmers adopt low-carbon fertilisers at scale. Speaking at London Tech Week, he highlighted how UK-produced low-carbon fertilisers can reduce emissions and protect farmers from global supply chain shocks. Trials on Tesco's Low Carbon Concept Farm in Lincolnshire showed a 50% reduction in carbon emissions for potatoes using these methods, with no loss in yield or quality. The retailer points to barriers like limited supply and difficulty accessing trial funding that keep promising innovations from reaching mainstream use. With conventional fertiliser prices rising, the cost gap with low-carbon alternatives has narrowed. Tesco has launched an Agri-tech Challenge to accelerate agricultural innovations and is urging others across the industry to scale production so these products can move beyond pilot stages.
