Interviewees: Hiroyuki Araki (Kubota Research & Development Headquarters Next Generation Technology Research Unit), Mitsuyasu Sato (Nomura Agri Planning & Advisory Research Department Director)
1. Fully remote farming even on a deserted island
Currently, labor-saving measures are being implemented in agricultural fields through the use of agricultural machinery. As technology advances and full automation becomes possible, farmers will no longer need to commute to their fields. Furthermore, as technology advances to artificially create the nutrients and environment necessary for crop growth, areas that were previously unsuitable for agriculture can be used as cultivated land.
"Drone technology is improving every day, so it will become easier to transport agricultural machinery and robots to uninhabited islands and places without roads," says Hiroyuki Araki of the Next Generation Technology Research Unit at Kubota's Research and Development Headquarters.
2: Multi-functional agricultural machinery that can handle anything
The basic tasks of agriculture include plowing, planting, and harvesting, and currently, tractors and combines are used for each task. By attaching attachments called implements, tractors can perform a variety of functions, such as plowing, spreading fertilizer and pesticides, and transporting crops.
"Although agricultural machinery that can perform multiple functions is already a reality, attaching and detaching implements and setting them up is actually a lot of work. If agricultural machinery could do this automatically, it would be much more convenient. Regarding the operation of agricultural machinery, self-driving tractors that are equipped with GPS and can perform farm work without a human being on board are already on the market. However, in the future, it would not be surprising if the cockpit itself were to disappear and the machinery were to be fully self-driving or remotely controlled. Self-driving machinery will probably be a reality within the next 10 years," says Araki.
If you are working in a deserted place, such as a desert island, and something goes wrong with your farm machinery, it can be a disaster. In such a situation, it would be extremely convenient if the farm machinery could repair itself.
"We already have the ability to use data to analyze and predict when an error is likely to occur in which part, and replace parts before they break. In the future, AI may be able to calculate complex failures and other difficult-to-predict factors, and issue a warning to agricultural machinery that it's time to replace it, allowing the machinery to replace it itself," says Araki.
In addition, carbon neutrality (effectively zero CO2 emissions) will progress and power sources will also evolve.
"At present, there are possibilities for batteries, hydrogen fuel, and biofuels, but when it comes to farming in unmanned locations, there is still much more worthwhile research into portability and decentralization," says Araki.
3. Leave the detailed farm work to the mini-robo
Farming involves countless steps: weeding, insect control, pinching (removing unwanted buds), harvesting after determining whether the produce is suitable for shipping, etc. Is it possible to leave these detailed and delicate tasks to machines?
"Rather than creating a universal robot that can replace humans, it is easier to develop mini-robots that are specialized for each task, and there is a high possibility of realizing this. They can be used in mountainous areas where large agricultural machinery cannot enter, and the number of units used can be adjusted according to the size of the farmland, so they seem to be very versatile," says Araki.
4. Smart agriculture using AI and data
Producing good crops requires appropriate cultivation methods that take into account a variety of factors, including climate, soil, sunlight, nutrients, and moisture. These are skills that farmers develop through many years of experience, but data collection and analysis are essential for anyone to be able to produce good crops efficiently and consistently.
"We've already achieved things like remote sensing, where drones are sent over fields to check on the growth of crops, and storing fertilization information and work records on the cloud, then exchanging that information with agricultural machinery equipped with communications devices. In the future, AI will analyze the vast amounts of big data related to agriculture and give appropriate instructions on when and how to fertilize and water, which should enable us to produce more high-quality crops. These things will likely be possible within the next 10 years or so," says Araki.
The evolution of sensors is also remarkable.
"We already have the technology to analyze certain frequencies to measure the health of agricultural crops, something the human eye cannot see. In North America, satellite-mounted sensing cameras are used to take pictures of wheat fields, predicting wheat yields, and trading companies are using this information to make purchases," says Araki.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries also announced the "Agricultural DX Initiative" in March 2021 to promote the digitalization of agriculture. Digitalization is considered essential for ensuring a stable food supply, resolving on-site labor shortages, addressing the aging of farmers, and improving profits. If digitalization progresses in line with this initiative, AI could create optimal cultivation plans based on all data, send that information to agricultural machinery via satellite, and then automatically carry out the work at the appropriate time. At the same time, data collected by agricultural machinery could also be transmitted to satellites, enabling cultivation that takes into account the latest conditions.
