Newtown's Cultivate is to be part of a trial Wales-wide project producing sustainable food for the local community. The Welsh Government has revealed four locations in Wales, including Newtown, where the 'Crop Circle' project will take place. It is part of its new Foundational Delivery Plan which sets out how it will develop plans to nurture and strengthen Wales’ everyday economy over the coming years.
Cultivate in Newtown will share £418,000 of funding. It is part of a wider £4.5 million Foundational Economy Challenge Fund supporting 52 projects in Wales to make the local economy work better for communities. "The sustainable food production project, Crop Cycle, is one of the 52 projects and will bring together community, businesses, and local public sector organisations to introduce environmentally-friendly food growth schemes," said a Welsh Government statement.
"Crop Cycle, which has received £481,000 from the Fund, will use science and technology through Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) to perfect plant production. The food and plants produced will be sold locally, some of it to buyers within meters of where it is produced." The pilot project, which is being led by registered charity Social Farms and Gardens with support from CEA special interest group NutriWales, could be rolled out across the rest of Wales if successful.
Four agri-tech businesses, Digital Farming Ltd, LettUs Grow, Grow Stack and Farm Urban, are also supporting the project at the four community sites. These are Cultivate in Newtown, Greenmeadow Community Farm in Cwmbran, Welcome To Our Woods in Treherbert, and Xplore! Science Discovery Centre in Wrexham.
Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, Lee Waters, said: “We often think that the economy is just about money, when it’s also about the homes we live in, the energy we use and the food we eat. “Bolstering local food supply is a key focus for this Welsh Government and this project offers a modern approach to truly sustainable food growing.
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