As Japan's farmers age, drones help with heavy lifting
As Japan's farmers age, drones help with heavy lifting
Rural communities in Japan are facing a labor shortage as
farmers age and young people move to urban areas. The drones, which fly over
fields quickly performing tasks strenuous to farmers, may be one part of how
farms in the aging rural heartland can adapt.
By Yuka Obayashi Reuters August 23, 2018
TOME, JAPAN - The next generation farmhand in Japan's
aging rural heartland may be a drone.
For several months, developers and farmers in northeast
Japan have been testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields and
perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time it takes for elderly
farmers.
"This is unprecedented high technology," said
Isamu Sakakibara, a 69-year-old rice farmer in the Tome area, a region that has
supplied rice to Tokyo since the 17th century.
Developers of the new agricultural drone say it offers
high-tech relief for rural communities facing a shortage of labor as young
people leave for the cities.
"As we face a shortage of next-generation farmers,
it's our mission to come up with new ideas to raise productivity and farmers'
income through the introduction of cutting-edge technologies such as
drones," said Mr. Sakakibara, who is also the head of JA Miyagi Tome, the
local agricultural cooperative.
The drone can apply pesticides and fertilizer to a rice
field in about 15 minutes – a job that takes more than an hour by hand and
requires farmers to lug around heavy tanks.
The Nile-T18 was developed by drone start-up Nileworks
Inc. and recently tested in collaboration with JA Miyagi Tome and trading house
Sumitomo Corp.
Their aim is to ease the physical burden and improve
productivity in rural areas battling decades of falling birth rates and
migration to urban areas.
In Tome, farmers are an average 67-68 years old and they
may only have another four to five years of farming left, Sakakibara said.
"It's a matter of whether the body breaks down
first, or the tractor," he added.
Compared to larger radio-controlled mini-helicopters that
cost around $135,758 with spray equipment, the drone is smaller and cheaper,
with a pricetag of about $36,000.
Nileworks is negotiating with authorities to allow
operators to fly its drone without a license. It can be controlled with an iPad
and runs on mapping software that is simple to operate.
"Our ultimate goal is to lower rice farming costs to
one-fourth of what it is now," Nileworks President Hiroshi Yanagishita
told reporters.
The drone can quickly analyze a rice stalk and determine
how much pesticide or fertilizer it needs, making it easier for farmers to
judge their input needs and estimate the crop size.
Nileworks plans to start selling the drone in May, with
an annual target of 100 units in year one and 4,000 in five years.
Other drone makers such as SkymatiX Inc., jointly owned
by trading house Mitsubishi Corp. and electronics maker Hitachi Ltd., are
offering drone services on farms.
Shota Chiba, a 29-year-old farmer in Tome, said
technology can modernize farming and lure young people back to the land.
"People still have a strong stereotypical image of
farming as a dirty and hard-labor job, but it's no longer all true thanks to
gradual mechanization," Mr. Chiba said.
"New technology like diagnostic drones could help
change this old image and attract more young people to farming, which I truly
enjoy," he added.
This article was reported by Reuters.
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