The global agricultural robots market is expected to grow from USD 10.183 billion in 2025 to USD 28.204 billion in 2030, at a CAGR of 22.60%.
Agriculture is one of the major economic sectors globally. It is also crucial to economic growth: in 2018, it accounted for 4 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and in some developing countries, it can account for more than 25% of GDP, a World Bank report states. It is both labor and intensive in nature. An agricultural robot is a robot deployed for agricultural purposes. It automates slow, repetitive tasks for farmers, allowing them to focus more on improving overall production yields. Some of the most common robots in agriculture are used for harvesting and picking, weed control, autonomous mowing, pruning, seeding, spraying and thinning, phenotyping, sorting and packing, and utility platforms.
As agriculture is transforming into a more mechanized and commercial structure, the usage of machinery and equipment has been increasing. This boosts the market for agricultural robots globally. The government is also extending various kinds of low-interest rate loans, subsidies, and tax concessions to farmers to increase productivity, especially in developing nations. This opens up new avenues of the market in those countries. R&D, innovation, and new product launches also drive up the market.
Moreover, the agricultural workers are partnering with several giant organizations to provide the raw materials. This yields the necessity to increase production. The usage of mechanisms and robots serves the purpose. Additionally, as the population increases, there has been a high demand for food grains. This also requires increasing output and traditional labor-intensive practices fail to achieve the desired levels. This calls for using advanced techniques in the process. Cumulatively, these factors have been propelling a huge market for agricultural robots.
Geographically, North America is projected to account for the largest share of the agriculture robots market during the forecast period owing to the increasing penetration of automated farm equipment and associated software in the region. China and Japan from the Asia-Pacific region are new emerging markets. By application, Dairy farm management is the most popularly used robotic application in agriculture. Harvest management is another application of agricultural robots and is used in places where the harvested crop is stored. These robots perform operations such as cleaning, cooling, packing, and sorting of the harvested farms.
IoT devices connected with farm management software provide data on weather, temperature, soil quality, estimated yield, etc. These analytical data provide insights to the farmers which help them increase and optimize production, plan for challenges, and make smart decisions to maximize productivity. They also provide information on irrigation facilities.
The use of real-time navigation in farm machinery eases the work of the farmers by providing them with real-time updates. This minimizes loss and increases efficiency. The incorporation of technology and connectivity has several advantages over traditional methods. It is being widely adopted and has expanded the market globally.
The world population stands at 7.8 billion in 2021 with a growth rate of 1.1% according to the United Nations Population Fund and this number is expected to rise in the coming years. As the population increases, the demand for food also increases. As Malthus stated, population increases by geometric progression while agricultural supply increases by arithmetic population. Agricultural supply must increase to sustain the growing population. The usage of modern technology and robotics helps raise productivity. An increase in the level of disposable income also increases the demand for food supply. With the help of robots, work in agricultural farms can be done faster and get the cultivated food at a minimum period. Thus, the rise in demand for food supply, and the increasing population are some of the factors which boost the growth of the agriculture robot market.
Even though agricultural robots are miraculously advantageous, there are certain limiting factors harnessing their market growth. The cost of agricultural robots, coupled with the lack of understanding of the new technologies are considered to be the major threats to the growth of agricultural robots, especially in developing countries where agriculture is a prime sector. Secondly, concerns over data privacy and lack of regulation also slow down the market. Thirdly, many agricultural robots cannot be deployed for commercial uses because of their complex operation. This is a major drawback that is restricting the market growth.
The market leaders for the Global Agricultural Robots Market are Vision Robotics Corporation, EcoRobotix Ltd, Naïo Technologies, Agrobot, AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc, Lely Holding, Boumatic Robotics, Deere & Company, Precision Hawk, and Trimble. The key players in the market implement growth strategies such as product launches, mergers, acquisitions, etc. to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. For instance,
Agricultural Robots Market Segments: