British agricultural technology company, Innovation Agri-Tech Group (IAG), has announced the appointment of Duncan Bannatyne as a non-executive director.
Bannatyne, best known for founding the Bannatyne Group, joins IAG’s board having been impressed by the technology developed by the team and how the future of vertical farming is set to ‘revolutionise’ the way that we grow food on a global scale.
IAG’s solutions complement the traditional challenges of farming, specialising in indoor vertical aeroponics. This technique uses up to 95% less water than conventional farming and 70% less water than hydroponics.
Bannatyne is expected to bring a ‘unique’ set of entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and business dexterity to the agricultural technology company.
READ MORE: Ocado paves the way for vertical farming
“On visiting the IAG farm, I was quite amazed at how simple it is to grow food indoors and – importantly – vertically,” Bannatyne said.
“There is no denying the massive issues affecting people today – such as the terrible situation in Ukraine. However, this isn’t by any means the sole factor when considering the global food shortage which has been apparent for decades.
“As populations continue to grow, we need a new way of producing food as traditional farming methods alone aren’t meeting demand, and in my opinion, vertical farming is the perfect solution.”
Agri-Tech Group chief executive Jaz Singh added: “Having such a fantastic ambassador for vertical farming can only be beneficial for us as we look to take our business from the R&D phase to market. It’s a really exciting moment and we genuinely believe that vertical farming is the technology of the future.”
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