Drivers for robot use in field crop farming: farmers’ perspectives from four case areas in Europe

T.W. Tamirat*, S.M. Pedersen, J.E. Ørum, Eva de Jonge, F. Kool

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference paperAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Due to increasing challenges of labour scarcity and cost, autonomous field machines have recently gained attention and some application in agriculture. Field crop robots are considered to address economic, environmental and social sustainability. Based on a survey of farmers from four case areas in Europe, this study identifies major drivers of demand for robotic solutions from farmers’ point of view. The main drivers are found to be: to save labour cost, intention to reduce soil compaction and improve efficiency in input use. Expectations about likely impact of robots (e.g. to reduce amount of chemical input use including fuel and pesticide, increase worker safety, profit, etc.) could also be important drivers of interest in robotic applications. Therefore, labour-saving, lighter, and affordable robots need to be made available and accessible to farmers. Further study on the relative importance of the identified drivers, possibly disaggregated by operation type, crop and other geographical factors is needed.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPrecision agriculture ’23
EditorsJ.V. Stafford
PublisherWageningen Academic Publishers
Chapter102
Pages813-820
ISBN (Electronic)9789086869473
ISBN (Print)9789086863938
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jul 2023

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