The technical and economic feasibility of agricultural robotics has been demonstrated, and technology is in the pipeline to make robotics ubiquitous on farms worldwide. The analysis of the benefits of agricultural robotics usually starts with reducing labour costs and coping with labour availability issues, but it quickly moves on to other benefits, including improved efficiency on small- and medium-sized farms, greater accuracy of input application, improved quality of products, reduced soil compaction with small swarm robots, profitable farming for small and irregularly shaped fields and automating the collection of crop and livestock data. The robotics technology has also the potential to create higher-skilled, better-paid employment in rural areas (e.g. supervising robots, maintenance and repair) and entrepreneurial opportunities. Realization of the potential benefits of agricultural robotics would require better digital infrastructure in rural areas, appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks, facilitating digital entrepreneurship, retraining workers, revising technical educational curricula, attention to data security, and policies that enhance the public-goods benefits of robotic agriculture.
Tabella dei contenuti
- 1 Introduction
- 2 History of adoption of agricultural robotics
- 3 Expected benefits of agricultural robotics
- 4 Potential agricultural robotics in low- and middle-income countries
- 5 Broader implications of agricultural robotics for the farm sector
- 6 Social Impact
- 7 Policy, regulatory and institutional issues
- 8 Conclusion
- 9 Where to look for further information?
- 10 Acknowledgements
- 11 References
Circa l’autore
Professor James Lowenberg-De Boer holds the Elizabeth Creak Chair in Agri-Tech Applied Economics at Harper Adams University (HAU), Newport, Shropshire, UK. He is responsible for economics in the Hands Free Farm (HFF) team at HAU. He is also past president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) and was co-editor of the journal Precision Agriculture 2016-2022. His research focuses on the economics of agricultural technology, especially precision agriculture and crop robotics. Lowenberg-De Boer’s research and outreach is founded in hands-on experience in agriculture, including production of maize and soybeans in NW Iowa in the USA.
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