Tesco is calling on the food industry to help low-carbon fertilisers move from small farm trials into widespread commercial use. The retailer argues British growers need more protection from volatile global fertiliser prices and supply chain disruptions. A trial at Tesco's Low Carbon Concept Farm in Lincolnshire, run with potato supplier Branston, cut potato emissions by 50% without hurting yield or quality. The 500 tonnes of potatoes from that trial sold in Tesco stores earlier this year. But Tesco says scaling these products depends on three things: enough supply, clear long-term pricing, and funding for commercial trials. Without those, farmers cannot plan across multiple seasons. The retailer has relaunched its Agri-tech Challenge to find startups with practical farm technologies. Applications close on 3 July. Winners get a chance to trial their tech on Tesco supplier farms and a year of Agri-TechE membership. The push comes as Tesco UK chief executive Ashwin Prasad is set to speak at London Tech Week about farm innovation and food security. The core tension here is that low-carbon fertilisers work in trials but need real market conditions to prove themselves at scale. If the supply and price questions get answered, this could reduce UK agriculture's exposure to global gas-based fertiliser markets and cut farm emissions significantly.
