Use of AI-based robots on the rise in Japanese agri

Added on 16 November 2023

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Use of AI-based robots on the rise in Japanese agri

A robot that uses artificial intelligence to automatically harvest cherry tomatoes in the Netherlands is pictured in May 2023. (Photo courtesy of Inaho Inc.)

Smart agriculture is increasingly being employed in Japan, arousing expectations that producers will be able to entrust artificial intelligence with more labor-intensive tasks to alleviate severe manpower shortages.

Large-scale greenhouse farmers are leading the way, having begun to use AI-equipped robots developed by venture businesses in ways that seem, more or less, to change the future shape of cultivating and harvesting agricultural products.

In September, a four-wheeled AI robot slowly rolled through the lush green leaves of a plastic greenhouse at a farm in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, gathering only the ripest cucumbers.

"We were initially afraid that the robot might cut off the cucumber stems, but it moves accurately," said Takeshi Yoshida, head of the farm called Takamiya No Aisai. "We expect much out of the robot now that labor is in such short supply."