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AGRICULTURE 4.0 Agricultural Robotics and Automated Equipment for Sustainable Crop Production

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ISSN 1020-4555 Integrated Crop Management Vol. 24 | 2020 AGRICULTURE 4.0 Agricultural robotics and automated equipment for sustainable crop production Start Integrated Crop Management Vo.l 24 | 2020 AGRICULTURE 4.0 Agricultural robotics and automated equipment for sustainable crop production By Santiago Santos Valle, Agricultural Mechanization Specialist, FAO Josef Kienzle, Agricultural Engineer, FAO NOVEMBER 2020 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2020 Required citation: Santos Valle, S. and Kienzle, J. 2020. Agriculture 4.0 – Agricultural robotics and automated equipment for sustainable crop production. Integrated Crop Management Vol. 24. Rome, FAO. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO. ISSN 1020-4555 © FAO, 2020 Some rights reserved. This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo/legalcode). Under the terms of this licence, this work may be copied, redistributed and adapted for non-commercial purposes, provided that the work is appropriately cited. In any use of this work, there should be no suggestion that FAO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the FAO logo is not permitted. If the work is adapted, then it must be licensed under the same or equivalent Creative Commons licence. If a translation of this work is created, it must include the following disclaimer along with the required citation: “This translation was not created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original [Language] edition shall be the authoritative edition.” Disputes arising under the licence that cannot be settled amicably will be resolved by mediation and arbitration as described in Article 8 of the licence except as otherwise provided herein. The applicable mediation rules will be the mediation rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/mediation/ rules and any arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Third-party materials. Users wishing to reuse material from this work that is attributed to a third party, such as tables, figures or images, are responsible for determining whether permission is needed for that reuse and for obtaining permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement of any third- party-owned component in the work rests solely with the user. Sales, rights and licensing. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through publications-sales@fao. org. Requests for commercial use should be submitted via: www.fao.org/contact- us/licence-request. Queries regarding rights and licensing should be submitted to: [email protected]. Cover: Art&Design srl ABSTRACT Agricultural technologies are rapidly evolving chemicals. Agricultural robots will also be able towards a new paradigm – Agriculture 4.0. Within to substitute arduous labour, especially when this paradigm, digitalization, automation and there is limited availability, thus increasing social artificial intelligence play a major role in crop sustainability. The development of Agriculture production, including weeding and pest control. 4.0 will create new opportunities that can attract This evolution presents both challenges and youth and entrepreneurs into the sector, tackling opportunities, such as leapfrogging from manual some of the causes for rural–urban migration and animal-driven technologies to automated and and contributing to the economic component of mechanized equipment in developing countries sustainability. and closing the digital divide. Traditional agricultural mechanization, characterized by the This report analyses the application of robotics use of tractors and engine power, will be matched in the area of agricultural mechanization for and even surpassed by automated equipment and crop production, and its specific applicability robotics and the precision they can provide in in the context of sustainable development. It farm operations. takes into consideration the social, economic and environmental dimensions of its adoption Conservation agriculture (CA) is an approach and explores its potential. It presents some of that involves crop diversification, permanent the technical characteristics of robotics and soil cover and minimal soil disturbance (e.g. highlights major challenges to overcome in limited tillage). CA increases soil structure and order to achieve its successful adoption, such as soil organic matter, promotes rich microbial adequate infrastructure, stakeholder capacity, diversity, retains water and nutrients, and better economic viability and data ownership. This manages pests and diseases, making agricultural report provides an analysis of some of the major soils more productive and resilient to changes areas of intervention that are needed for the in climate. However, it requires specialized different stakeholders, including smallholder equipment – for example, for direct drilling of farmers in developing countries. crop seed into the soil at the right depth and sowing density. Agricultural robotics can support these environmentally sustainable practices, by allowing spot weeding and precision management of nutrients, pests, diseases and weeds through mechanical removal or spot application of iii CONTENTS FOREWORD vii FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii 1. Average farm size, 1960–2000 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ix 2. Comparison between a smart farm (Agriculture 4.0) and a small-scale farm (conventional agriculture) 1 BACKGROUND 1 3. Information-based management cycl for advanced agriculture 1.1 Aim of report 3 4. Graphic concept of Agriculture 4.0 2 AGRICULTURE 4.0: DRONES, ROBOTS AND ICTS 5 at farm operation level 2.1 Agricultural robotics 7 5. Concept of an agrobot weeding mechanically 2.2 Use of agrobotse 8 with a beam of light 6. Solar-powered robot 3 DRIVERS OF THE ADOPTION 11 7. Self-powered platform 3.1 Challenges 12 8. Small robot for weeding 4 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND AGRICULTURAL 9. Specialized agrobot for strawberry harvesting ROBOTICS PERSPECTIVES 15 10. Signal coverage of 3G technology 4.1 Agricultural applications 15 in France and Zambia 4.2 Agribusiness options 16 11. Hands Free Hectare project: a 1980s harvester and a 4.3 Drudgery reduction for small-scale farmers 17 conventional small four-wheel tractor pulling a trailer 4.4 Contribution to achieve Sustainable 12. Sustainable Development Goals to which agricultural Development Goals 17 robotics can contribute 5 CONCLUSION 19 REFERENCES 21 ANNEXES - List of typologies and examples of agrobots adaptation optionsg adaptation actions 23 v AGRICULTURE 4.0: AGRICULTURAL ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED EQUIPMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION Agerris © vi FOREWORD Mechanization is a key driver of efficient Digital innovations in mechanization technologies farming systems. It enables the transition from can make agriculture more attractive to rural subsistence to market-oriented agriculture, youth, especially in developing countries. With provides off-farm employment attractive the necessary rural infrastructure, supply chains, to women and youth, and catalyses rural services and training in place, new and more development. Mechanization options include attractive jobs can be created in order to benefit agricultural tools, equipment and machinery for those rural areas that were left behind when land preparation, crop management, harvest and agriculture depended on rudimentary hand tools. post-harvest activities, processing and all actions in the agri-food value chain. There is a vast divide between high-tech digitally supported machinery and low-tech simple hand There is a misconception that mechanization tools. The Food and Agriculture Organization of displaces farm labour and encourages rural– the United Nations (FAO) and its partners must urban migration, but the opposite is true: provide governments with the necessary technical mechanization improves well-being and increases support to transform agriculture in a sustainable decent work opportunities. For example, land way and create an enabling environment for preparation and weeding require less time and this private-sector-led industry. Furthermore, effort, thus reducing drudgery and freeing up the initiative is aligned with the Framework time for non-farm activities. Moreover, off-farm for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in activities, such as manufacture, maintenance Africa (SAMA) and Asia (SAM), and supports and hiring of equipment, as well as information efforts to develop small-scale mechanization
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