Over the last 11 years, the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena, in association with the National Ploughing Association (NPA), has developed into a showcase of talent and ingenuity from the agritech sector in Ireland.

In a normal year without Covid-19, the Innovation Arena should take centre stage at the championships.

This year, amid ongoing restrictions, the awards are launching once again on a virtual platform and are now inviting entries from companies with a ground-breaking agri-related prototype or product.

The Innovation Arena has a prize fund of €10,000. The best start-up and the overall winner will be eligible for a €5,000 prize each. Previous overall winners include Malone Farm Machinery with the Bale Express, attracting global interest in its innovative new concept.

Agritech is quite a wide portfolio for us in Enterprise Ireland. In the past, the engineering sector has been at its core and is now worth over half a billion euro in exports.

Companies have a high priority on innovation and we have some world leading education and research through an established network of universities and research centres.

Ireland for its population size, is making a valuable contribution to farming and technology in every continent. This can be seen with some of our early stage companies that are leading on innovation, like Magrow, Moocall, ApisProtect, Microgen and last year’s Innovation Arena Best Start-Up winners IAMUS who have the potential to increase efficiency in the poultry sector.

Agritech and research will play a key role on securing the future developments in the sector.

The challenge of reducing carbon, managing pastures with less inputs and controlling emissions are key drivers within this sector, looking forward to meeting the targets set out by the EU Green Deal for Agriculture.

There are 12 awards in total at this year’s Innovation Arena.

The awards offer a platform for companies to showcase their solutions to a global audience, which could include potential customers and investors.

Last year, the overall winners, Malone Farm Machinery in Co. Mayo, attracted interest from many countries for its innovative and compact 16-bale trailer, including the US, Canada and France.

The exposure through the platform, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland’s global network, has the potential to turn an emerging Irish company into a global business.

Agriculture and associated industries will always remain vital to Ireland’s economy employing over 150,000 people, yet it is the one of the least digitised industries in the world, according to a 2018 McKinsey report.

So it’s no surprise that many of Ireland’s entrepreneurs are seeing the opportunities in agriculture to produce solutions that are needed on a global scale to improve efficiency, sustainability and reduce carbon emissions.

A particular area of interest this year is innovation for a green future in agriculture, especially in the areas of lowering carbon emissions, improving efficiencies and creating sustainable agriculture.

A great example is last year’s winner of the Sustainable Agriculture Award, Hexafly, a company that produces protein for animals from black soldier flies.

We’ve also seen innovations in using technology and sensors to help farmers optimise the nutrition of both crops and animals, providing benefits on production costs, while also protecting the environment.

This type of technology is adding value to traditional systems, providing more information to support decisions on farm.

Antibiotic efficacy is a concern across the globe. Micron Agritech has a solution that allows farmers test for worms on-site to determine whether an animal needs an antibiotic treatment or not.

The goal of innovative new technology is to move away from broad-spectrum treatments, into more targeted applications, saving money and reducing resistance and protecting the future for all.

The application is a straightforward process. It involves completing a 250-word description of your company, and the specialisation that your innovation solves.

These entries are then shortlisted to move on to the second stage, with an in-depth look at the innovation and an online pitch to the judges.

Companies with a working prototype or finished product can enter under any of the categories.

Closing date for entries is Wednesday, June 30, 2021. More details on the application process can be found at www.innovationarena.ie