A new wave toward the future of agriculture is coming.
According to Tractica, a market intelligence firm that focuses on human interaction with technology, the market for agricultural robots is developing at a rapid pace. Large numbers of established and startup agricultural technology companies are developing, piloting, and launching an innovative range of robotic systems to tackle a wide variety of tasks.
Tractica collaborated with The Robot Report to write “Agricultural Robots,” which predicts that shipments of agricultural robots will increase significantly in the upcoming years, rising from 32,000 units in 2016 to 594,000 units annually in 2024. By this time the market is expected to reach $74.1 billion in annual revenue.
“The rising demand for agricultural robots is being driven by a number of factors including global population growth, increasing strain on the food supply, declining availability of farm workers, the challenges, costs, and complexities of farm labor, changing farmlands, climate change, the growth of indoor farming, and the broader automation of the agriculture industry,” said Manoj Sahi, research analyst, Tractica.
Key application areas for agricultural robots include driverless tractors, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), material management, field crops and forest management, soil management, dairy management, and animal management, with a diverse set of subcategories emerging within each of those areas.
“Robotics companies are keenly focused on the agricultural market opportunity,” said Frank Tobe, editor and publisher, The Robot Report. “Our research identified and profiled more than 150 industry participants who are developing and launching robotic systems to address the need for more automation to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and address labor concerns against the backdrop of a rapidly changing agriculture market and technology environment.”
The report examined global market trends for agricultural robots and provides 10-year market sizing and forecasts for agricultural robot shipments and revenue during the period from 2015 through 2024. Also it examined the market opportunities, barriers, and technology issues for each of the key application markets. The study also includes 178 profiles of industry players in the agricultural robot market.
If Tractica and the Robot Report are correct in their findings, the agricultural world will be more productive with the introduction of these robots.