Top Agricultural Robot Categories Will Include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Driverless Tractors, Material Management Robots, Soil Management Robots, and Dairy Management Robots
May 1, 2019 – Farmers are increasingly turning to technology to enable more efficient use of their farmland to meet demand for food from a growing global population and deal with labor shortages and costs, regulations, and changing weather conditions. At the same time, numerous robotic solutions are being developed to meet this demand for precision agriculture. Increasing market penetration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robots, and automation technology on farms around the world is being facilitated by improvements in the intelligence, performance, and price of sensing technologies, electric motors, and drive controls.
According to a new report from Tractica, global shipments of agricultural robots will increase at a fast pace over the next several years, rising from approximately 60,000 units annually in 2018 to more than 727,000 by 2025. The market intelligence firm anticipates that UAVs will top the list among agricultural robot categories, followed by driverless tractors, material management robots, soil management robots, and dairy management robots. Tractica forecasts that such shipments will drive a total annual market value of $87.9 billion worldwide by 2025.
“Robots and automation technologies have the potential to dramatically improve crop quality and yields, reduce the amount of chemicals used, solve labor shortages, and provide hope for the economic sustainability of smaller farming operations,” says senior analyst Glenn Sanders.
Sanders adds that these factors are driving strong demand for robots throughout the farming process, including planting, pruning, weeding, pick-and-place, sorting, seeding, spraying, harvesting, and materials handling.
Tractica’s report, “Agricultural Robots”, provides 8-year market sizing and forecasts for agricultural robot shipments and revenue during the 2018-2025 timeframe, segmented by world region and application type. It discusses the global market trends, drivers, challenges, and technological issues that will influence the development of agricultural robots. Tractica also presents a detailed picture of market participants based on interviews with CEOs and research, profiling 27 key players and listing more than 150 emerging and significant industry players. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website.
