Japan: Robots will replace humans in agriculture.

(Baonghean.vn) - To address the problem of the increasing average age of farmers and the rising retirement rate, Japan has come up with a solution: using robots to replace humans.

Kubota Corporation's self-propelled tractor design was unveiled on January 19th in Kyoto. Photo: Nikkei

Agriculture ministers from the G7 countries met in Niigata, Japan on April 24th for the first time in seven years to discuss how to meet growing food demands while the agricultural workforce is shrinking. With the average age of farmers in Japan at 67, Agriculture Minister Hiroshi Moriyama presented the idea of ​​replacing humans with autonomous tractors and robots.

Japan has announced plans to spend 4 billion yen in fiscal year 2016-2017 to promote the development of automated farms and 20 different types of robots for agricultural operations.

Makiko Tsugata, a senior analyst at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, also agrees with the Japanese government's plan to support the development of new technologies in agriculture.

Agricultural activities in Japan will be performed by robots in the future. Photo: Smartgrowtechnologies

The area of ​​uncultivated land in Japan has nearly doubled in the past two decades, reaching 420,000 hectares in 2015. Meanwhile, about 65% of farmers in Japan are aged 65 or older. The scarcity of young people willing to work in agriculture has raised the risk of Japan becoming increasingly dependent on imported food, with current imports accounting for around 60%.

Kubota Corporation, Japan's largest agricultural machinery manufacturer, has developed the first autonomous tractor for use in rice paddies. Equipped with a global positioning system (GPS), the vehicle will automatically plow and fertilize the fields after assessing soil conditions. ISEKI and Yanmar are also developing autonomous tractors and harvesters based on agricultural machinery systems developed by Hitachi.

Besides autonomous tractors, Kubota Corporation is also developing a line of compact robots to help farmers harvest and transport fruits and vegetables. The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture hopes that with the robots being easily portable, elderly farmers and women will face fewer difficulties in their farming activities.

Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at JSC Corporation and a researcher in the Tokyo market, said, "The application of new technologies in farming will boost the attractiveness of the agricultural sector, helping to attract young people to participate in this field."

Thanh Hien

(According to Bloomberg)