Smart harvest tech becoming more cost efficient
The cost efficiency of smart harvest technologies is to gain exponential growth.
According to B2B research company MarketsandMarkets the cost efficiency of smart harvest technologies is projected to gain exponential growth.
Increasing adoption of new technologies
The most significant factor driving the smart harvest market is the increasing adoption of new technologies in farming for maximum profitability and production, states the report by MarketsandMarkets.
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Global labour shortage
The rise in population has led to an increased food demand, which in turn, has led to greater pressure on farmers to increase yield and area harvested for various crops. However, global labour shortage in agriculture is one of the major factors leading to loss of yield.
Optimise crop yields
To cater to this issue, farmers are highly adopting farm mechanisation and other smart agriculture techniques to optimise their crop yields. Smart agriculture involves the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), GPS, cloud machine learning, satellite imagery, and advanced analytics.
“Harvesting is one of the major phases of farming, and the use of various smart devices increases the output and thus decreases the overall loss,” states the report.
Limited number of manufacturers
Products such as GPS, sensors, and various imaging systems are commercialised and offered by various manufacturers, globally. “However, there is a limited number of manufacturers for harvesting robots. Majority of the manufacturers have harvesting robots in the testing phase or have launched prototypes and are expected to launch in the market for sales in the near future,” says the research company.
Panasonic tomato-picking robot
For instance, in January 2018, Panasonic Corporation unveiled a prototype of their new fully autonomous tomato-picking robot in Tokyo. The robot is incorporated with high-resolution cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence features to identify and pick ripe tomatoes.
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In February 2019, Sony launched an agriculture solution for crop management, which allows efficient crop management and monitoring techniques based on the collection, capture, and analyzation of field data.
Maximum profitability and production
The most significant factor driving the smart harvest market is the increasing adoption of new technologies in farming for maximum profitability and production. “Thanks to the use of various devices such as mapping software, variable rate technology (VRT), and yield mapping farmers can increase the fertility, productivity, profitability, and sustainability of crops,” say the MarketsandMarkets researchers.
Additionally, various government initiatives across the globe have been encouraging farmers to adopt such modern farm technologies, in turn, increasing the sales of smart harvest systems.
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What is driving the growth of smart harvest systems?
Smart harvest systems help growers to obtain more revenue from the agribusiness. They help gain geospatial data of soil, livestock, and plant, and inter- and intra-field information to protect crops from negative environmental impacts.
“These advanced technologies also help to obtain accurate information regarding the application of irrigation water, liquid fertilisers, nutrients, herbicides, and pesticides on fields, thereby reducing the wastage of resources.”
Better insight into crops
Mapping software, yield mapping, and other techniques of advanced farming help to increase the fertility, productivity, profitability, and sustainability of crops. Smart harvest technologies offer better insight into the crops to identify and relay the harvest potential to the farmers, leading to an increase in productivity.
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“The impact of this driver is currently significant, as the demand for food across the globe is high, owing to the rapid population growth. Business-oriented agriculturists have been adopting various smart harvest technologies to increase their profits and harvest output,” states the report.
Reduce cost of harvesting
Furthermore, smart harvest technologies reduce the cost of harvesting, which accounts for 60% of the total cost per hectare, according to the report. “Smart harvest systems aid farmers by providing real-time information regarding crop health and setting up harvest schedules.”
Bolster prospects for end users in the market
The prospect of data-driven knowledge is expected to bolster prospects for end users in the market: “The sensors and weather monitoring systems help identify weather patterns and relay the information to farmers to aid their decision making. This information also helps direct the autonomous robots to identify the right fruits/vegetables to harvest. Data collection in fields helps growers improve productivity. ”
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Cost efficiency benefits offered by smart harvest systems
Autonomous products for agriculture provide additional bottom-line savings regarding labor costs. “Thus, the cost efficiency provided by robots in farming has a direct impact on the profitability of agricultural farm operations, and as a result, the demand for smart harvest technology is expected to grow among farmers,” say the researchers.
Harvesting
According to MarketsandMarkets, about 60% of the production cost in agriculture is spent on labor and tasks performed during harvesting. “The harvesting process poses higher potential benefits of robots because of the high labor cost. It is expected that in the next 10 years, the adoption rate of robots fitted with sensor technology is projected to gain tremendous popularity, thereby rendering manual labor redundant in farms, which could lead to a reduction in labor costs.”
Smart harvest market by region
Based on region, the smart harvest market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Rest of the World.
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Europe accounted for the largest market size in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.16% during the forecast period. The region’s high adoption rate for advanced harvesting technologies is likely to contribute to the growth of this market.
The Asia Pacific smart harvest market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.29% from 2018 to 2023. The growth in this region can be attributed to increased demand from countries such as Japan and China, where the adoption rate for advanced agricultural technologies is high.
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