Meet Robocrop: the future of farming

Farming robots are getting to the root of the problem. (Photo: Disney)

As I’m nearing the end of my early-20s stint, I’m starting to embrace hobbies that require a lot of time and dedication: pottery, cross-stitching, and painting to name a few.

One hobby I’ve recently tried and failed at is gardening, which my old plant, Phil the Philodendron cannot confirm as he is dead. Gardening is not just an inborn talent, it requires a lot of research and practice to get the hang of, and the same thing can be said about farming.

But nowadays, it seems that having a green thumb can easily be taught, or rather, easily programmed into farming robots.

Robots touching grass

Full disclosure: My most relevant experience with agritech is managing my crop empire in the farming simulator Stardew Valley, but I digress.

The earliest history of agricultural innovation dates back to the sixth millennium BCE when irrigation technology was first developed. Since then, agricultural technology (agritech) has only grown (pun intended) since then.

Farming and technology may not seem to go together, but it seems the most natural trajectory considering the fact that 10% of the global population suffered from hunger back in 2020 and the rapid decline of agricultural employment worldwide. Recent months have been a testament to the lengths to which farming can be automated.

For one thing, strawberry-harvesting robots have been busy at work. This four-wheeled robot comes complete with clipper-tipped arms and a catchment tray. Its creator from Tortuga Agtech boasts 95% berry-picking accuracy compared to the average human. 

Meanwhile, further down south, startup Solinftec’s agritech robots in Brazil are autonomous and were designed to apply weed killer and fertilizer only when needed. The company projected a 70% reduction in product use, and may even release these battery-operated pest-patrollers in the US to commercialize.

And suppose you ever find yourself on certain California vineyards and Australian farmlands, you may find it peculiar to see a tractor maneuvering around the plots with no operator in sight—these are self-driving tractors. These Swiss Farming Knives on wheels often run on electric batteries, can be operated remotely via app or wi-fi, or can mow, slash, spray herbicides, and handle agrochemicals efficiently.

Agritech has even found its way to the Philippines. Engineers from The Advanced Science and Technology Institute are now AI-enabled robots to identify disease-afflicted plants in selected banana plantations

COVID, climate change, and crops

Before you wag your finger at the idea of a robot harvesting berries, agritech is actually low-hanging fruit in light of today’s social and environmental climate; namely for two reasons.

One, the COVID-19 pandemic did not spare global farming operations. Travel restrictions and border lockdowns contributed to labor shortages in many countries, which greatly impacted peak seasonal labor demands and labor-intensive production. Playing the daily game of “what’s the new food item on the shortage list?” is evidence of this. Utilizing agritech bypasses the health risks and production costs that come with having a large number of farmers doing manual work simultaneously.

The other reason why we shouldn’t count agritech out just yet is because of climate change. What I found surprising was that agriculture significantly contributes to global warming, capping up to 37% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. With each day, the effects of climate change are becoming alarmingly apparent. Battery-operated agritech that has a track record for minimizing agrochemical use bodes well against farming practices that typically do more bad than good for the environment.

Erik Pekkeriet, the Program Manager of Agro Food Robotics at the University of Wageningen lobbied for agritech’s crucial role in agricultural employment, “I think people who are currently working in the primary process are really treated like robots. I think we have to improve the working conditions of the primary worker force fast, otherwise we will lose them.” 

Climate change and COVID have, therefore, presented multiple opportunities for Big Tech and start-ups to pitch their agritech inventions. However, some tech critics argue that anchoring crisis as a selling point for agritech risks depicting automation as altruistic, thereby obscuring the impact on the farm workers who could be displaced.

On to greener, high-tech pastures

From the country that was once the main rice exporter of Asia, the Philippines is now the most food-insecure country in the region due to a reliance on imported food. The entire sector is dying, with more and more farmers not wanting their children to enter the agricultural industry. And as agriculture-related college courses account for only 3% of total higher education enrollment, former Agriculture Secretary William Dar warned that—unless addressed—the Philippines is projected to see a “critical shortage” of farmers in 12 years or less.

Now that the automation movement embeds itself in every single industry imaginable,  automating farming in the Philippines seems more like a matter of survival rather than convenience. Or at least, some parts of it.

There’s a common misconception that farmers are resistant to agritech innovations, especially among the older generation. On the contrary, Emily Reisman, assistant professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Buffalo, asserts that older farmers aren’t necessarily opposed to turning a new leaf. 

“Many people who are existing farm workers aren’t necessarily resistant to automation, many of them are getting older, and many of them see these tools as potentially relieving some of the physical burden of farm work,” said Reisman.

The goal of agritech isn’t about displacing farmers, far from it. Agritech exists to optimize agricultural practices cultivated by knowledgeable farmers—it’s supplementary to human expertise. Besides, there are many farming techniques that automation can’t replicate: like gently handling produce so as to not bruise soft fruit and vegetables or determining whether crops are ready for harvesting.

By giving farmers sustainable options for agribusiness, providing localized solutions relevant to the area and the culture, and teaching them to incorporate machinery into their farming practices, we could make the lives of Filipino farmers brighter and greener.