Robot-Farmed Parsnips with Low Carbon Footprint to Debut at Select M&S Stores

Marks & Spencer (M&S), the British multinational retailer, is launching a pioneering autonomous farming trial to reduce carbon emissions in the cultivation of its parsnips.

Partnering with Huntapac, the project leverages robots and drones to farm parsnips with a much-reduced environmental impact. By adopting a "minimum till" approach, which helps retain carbon in the soil, and introducing a green fertilizer that lowers nitrogen dioxide emissions, the trial has already achieved impressive results—a 46% reduction in carbon emissions compared to conventional farming methods.

This innovative trial is part of M&S's broader commitment to becoming a net-zero business across its entire supply chain by 2040. The goal isn't just cutting emissions and improving crop yields and quality. Artificial intelligence monitors crop health, while autonomous technology helps mitigate the challenges posed by unpredictable weather.

Shoppers can expect the first autonomously farmed parsnips to hit select M&S stores in November 2024. These parsnips are grown in Yorkshire as part of the retailer's "Plan A Net Zero Accelerator" fund—an initiative designed to fast-track innovative projects contributing to M&S's net-zero ambitions.

M&S's Farming with Nature programme complements this trial by fostering biodiversity. This includes deploying AgriSound technology to monitor pollinator activity and creating wildflower borders to support local wildlife.

Andrew Clappen, M&S Food's technical director, emphasized the importance of innovation: "Innovation is central to M&S Food, and our Plan A Accelerator Fund allows us to harness the entrepreneurial drive of our suppliers. Projects like this are key to achieving our net-zero goal by 2040 while ensuring that we continue to deliver the quality that M&S is known for."

Through this initiative, M&S is taking bold steps to reshape sustainable farming practices while maintaining the high standards of quality its customers expect.

"Agriculture is one of our biggest contributors to emissions, so it's important that we find new lower-impact farming methods. Trialling new ways to support our Plan A roadmap to Net Zero is an important step on the journey, and this project has helped deliver more parsnips at M&S quality, a carbon reduction and brings together new technologies which, if adopted more widely, would create more highly skilled jobs and attract new talent into the sector."

M&S recently announced plans to recruit more than 11,000 new customer assistants to support its UK stores during the 2024 festive period.

"M&S conducts autonomous field farming trial to cut carbon emissions" was initially created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData-owned brand.