For many years, the agriculture industry continued without any significant progress. The agriculture industry was always considered as having reached the golden age. This meant many people believed that no more leaps could have happened. This all changed when robotics entered this industry. The introduction of robotics brought with it many tangible benefits and time savers.
Robotics offered help in many different ways for this industry. Help included pesticide control, more efficient farming, and even automated tractors. People realized there were many different ways to incorporate technology in farming. It took little to no time until we were using robotics in our age-old agriculture methods. Written below is a description of some of the ways robotics have helped. Their specific benefits are also mentioned and summarized.
Productivity Is The Name Of The Game
The most tangible benefit that robots brought to the table was increased productivity. This is a common gain in every industry robotics has made its way in. State-of-the-art robotics such as the ones offered by EVS CO.Ltd can tirelessly work. The inability to fall ill or tired allows for a more consistent workflow all season long. These robots can operate at full capacity for a long amount of time.
There are many rewards we can reap from this productivity. The machines operate at high speeds but encounter a minimal amount of errors.
This increases the quantity of the harvest naturally. Humans usually take time to perfect the process of farming and quality check for any errors.
This process is offset by the machinery and the time taken is reduced drastically. Sorting between soiled and useful products was a task that needed much time to complete. In the present, machines breeze through sorting fairly quickly and without errors.
Pesticide Control
In the early days of farming, pesticides were a nuisance. Pesticides are one of the main culprits behind the wastage of food and decreased output of crops. Yet, farmers had to willingly incorporate pesticides on their crops to reduce pests. Insects and other pests had the potential to damage crops beyond repair. Robotics swiftly solved this issue by only targeting the crops that needed them. This meant most of the crops would go through the process pesticide-free.
The plants that needed pesticides were injected with it. This changed the way workers would handle the pest control. Gone were the days where humans used pesticides in a more haphazard manner. Instead, robotics carefully injected pesticides in a more calculated technique.
The result was less wastage of the crops input to be farmed which also meant higher output. The use of pesticides was also decreased which was beneficial for the environment.
Cost-Efficient
People were reluctant to install robotics on their farms in the early days. Part of the reason why was due to the high sunk cost involved. Yet, those who did take the risk saw long-term cost-saving. The robots were able to work for long periods of time with spot-on accuracy. This meant higher outputs and less time spent. Similarly, calculated pesticide injection leads to less of it being used.
There are many maintenance tasks assigned to a farm. Assessing the stability of the land, sowing the seeds, and watering the crops are some of the tasks. Human labor spent a lot of time and money on efficiently completing these tasks in a cost-effective way. Robotics gave the ability to automate most of these tasks and save human labor.
From increased productivity to levels to automation of maintenance tasks, robotics changed farming. The costs that went hand to hand with many of these processes had been significantly reduced. Profits were reaching new highs and costs were falling to new lows. As a result, robotics was deemed more favorable than extensive worker training by the public. The use of robotics in the agricultural industry also grew in popularity.
Automation And Safety
The automation of maintenance tasks gave rise to the possibility of automating heavier tasks. In the present day, robotics have managed to automate harvesting and tractors. These were processes that took human labor ages to complete that are now done with ease.
The use of drones in the agricultural industry has also risen in popularity. Drones are used to figure out exactly where fertilizers and pesticides need to be injected. They also give a layout of the terrain to help pinpoint the best areas for new crops.
One of the key benefits because of this automation is safety for human labor. Some pesticides are chemically dangerous to us and are a risk.
Even potentially sniffing them or coming into contact could be hazardous. It is here where workers are protected by the automation of pesticide injection. Instead, workers can assess from a safe distance how robots apply pesticides.
There are a bunch of other benefits to this automation as well. With less mundane tasks assigned to workers, they can focus on harder, more important ones. This also encourages worker flexibility and avoids repetitiveness.
Research has also proved that farmers are more satisfied with automation than without. Many would consider the reduction of human labor a drawback yet job creation also takes place. The maintenance of the machines as well as handling some of them require human labor.
Conclusion
Robotics has had a huge positive impact on the way we farm. Not long ago, robotics in the agricultural sector was in its infancy. Measurable progress has been made since then in a short amount of time. It’s exciting to think about what the future holds for further use of robotics in the agricultural industry.