They further provide insights to help optimize yield, improve planning, and make smarter decisions to maximize productivity.
For example, CropX (US) is a company that provides soil sensors for farms that can provide alerts when soil conditions are not optimal. A farmer can receive a notification in real-time in case of lower moisture levels in a certain part of the field and change the delivery of water in the irrigation system accordingly. Lely (Netherlands) has developed an identification tag (Qwes) to monitor livestock autonomously and collect field data for efficient and productive dairy farming. There are further opportunities to apply more advanced sensor technologies, combined with more autonomous systems to perform tasks on farms. This applies to both extensive and intensive (indoor) production systems.
The major factor restraining the growth of the agricultural robots market includes high cost of automation for small farms (10–1,000 acres), technological barriers pertaining to fully autonomous robots, and many agricultural robots not yet ready for full commercial deployment.Although it is expected that the COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate the deployment of agricultural robots to minimize risks arising from human contamination, many of the agricultural robots are still being field-tested and will most likely be not ready for commercial deployment even in the near future.
For instance, when compared to drones and milking robots, most harvesting and weeding robots are still in their prototype stage. Even fully autonomous and driverless tractors are currently deployed in very limited numbers due to the technology being relatively new.
The market declined in 2020, mainly due to the impact of COVID-19.The supply chains were disrupted in 2020 due to the lockdown imposed by various governments and labor shortages in these industries due to travel restrictions, which would affect the agricultural robots market.
Though the market has been impacted in 2020, it is expected to fully recover by 2022.
Driverless Tractor: The largest segment of the agricultural robots market, by type
A driverless tractor is a form of autonomous technology that operates without any human intervention.Currently, the adoption rate of driverless tractors on agricultural farms is very low due to their high cost.
The impact of driverless tractors on-farm operations is expected to be dramatic, and the vehicles have the potential to provide a huge boost to productivity in the future.Driverless tractors are in the early commercialization stage.
"Smart robots increase value of fresh fruits and vegetables"
Companies such as John Deere (US) and CHN Industrial NV (UK) have showcased prototypes of driverless tractors in trade shows, such as the US Farm Progress Show and SIMA International Farm Machinery Show and dealer events. The companies that currently have a strong portfolio of semi-autonomous technology for tractors are expected to lead the development of fully autonomous tractors.
Field Farming: The fastest-growing segment of the agricultural robots market, by application
The Field Farming segment is the fastest-growing function for the agricultural robots market.The use of drones and driverless tractors is automatizing field farming.
Owing to the high penetration rate of UAVs and the high average selling price of driverless tractors, the field farming application is expected to hold a significant share of ~29% of the agricultural robots market during the forecast period. With further growth in the adoption of driverless tractors for automating field farming applications, the market for driverless tractors is expected to overtake the market for milking robots by 2023.
North America has the largest market share in the agricultural robots market
North America accounted for the largest share of the agricultural robots market in 2020.According to the International Federation of Robotics, North America is the largest market for innovative technologies in agriculture.
North America consists of various countries, such as the US, Canada, and Mexico.The US accounts for the largest share of the agricultural robots market in the region.
Increasing labor shortage and high labor costs in the region has led to the adoption of robots and automation to ensure better productivity & maintain quality standards.North America, the US, Canada, and Mexico have set guidelines laid down by their respective aviation authorities for the use of drones in commercial applications, for instance, agriculture.
The US is also focusing heavily on fruit and vegetable harvesting robots and is expected to be one of the first countries to adopt such robots. North America is also one of the largest markets for auto-steering tractors, making it a lucrative market for driverless tractor
The study contains insights from various industry experts, ranging from component suppliers to Tier 1 companies. The break-up of the primaries is as follows:
• By Company Type: Tier 1 – 35%, Tier 2 – 40%, and Tier 3 – 25%
• By Designation: C-level Executives – 30%, Directors – 40%, and Others – 30%
• By Region: North America – 40%, Europe – 32%, APAC – 23%, and RoW – 5%
The report profiles key players in the global agricultural robots market with their respective market share analysis. Prominent players profiled in this report are Deere & Company (US), DJI (China), CNH Industrial NV (UK), AGCO Corporation (US), DeLaval (Sweden), Trimble Inc. (US), BouMatic Robotics (The Netherlands), Lely (The Netherlands), AgJunction (US), AgEagle Aerial Systems (US), YANMAR Co. (Japan), Deepfield Robotics (Germany), ecoRobotix (Switzerland), Harvest Automation (US), Naïo Technologies (France), ROBOTICS PLUS (New Zealand), KUBOTA Corporation (Japan), HARVEST CROO (US), Autonomous Tractor Corporation (US), Clearpath Robotics (Canada), DroneDeploy (US), Agrobot (Spain), FFRobotics (Israel), Fullwood Packo (UK), and Monarch Tractor (US).
Research Coverage:
The report segments the agricultural robots market and forecasts its size, by value, based on region (North America, Europe, APAC, and ROW), by Type (Milking Robots, UAVs/Drones, Automated Harvesting Systems, Driverless Tractors, Others), by Farm Produce (Fruits & Vegetables, Field Crops, Dairy & Livestock, Others), by Farming Environment (Indoor, Outdoor), by Application (Harvest Management, Field Farming, Dairy & Livestock Management, Soil & Irrigation Management, Others).
The report also provides a comprehensive review of market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges in the agricultural robots market. The report also covers qualitative aspects in addition to the quantitative aspects of these markets.
Key Benefits of Buying the Report
The report will help the leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall market and the sub-segments.This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their businesses and plan suitable go-to-market strategies.
