November 2018: Adroit Market Research launched a study titled, “Global Agricultural Robots and Drones Market Size 2017 By Type (Dairy Farm Robots, Autonomous Tractors, Agriculture Drones, Weeding Robots and Harvesting Robots), By Region and Forecast 2018 to 2025”. The study covers the global agricultural robots and drones market value for a period ranging between 2014 to 2025, where 2014 to 2017 imply the historical value with forecast between 2018 and 2025. The global agricultural robots and drones market report also includes qualitative insights of the market such as restrains and drivers.

The global agricultural robots and drones market size is projected to be worth USD 56.02 billion by 2025 driven by increasing demand for smart technology paired with surge in government spending in agriculture sector.

Agriculture is a trillion-dollar industry, representing almost 10% of the global GDP and employs billions of the global working population. With world’s population forecast to reach around 9 billion by 2050 according to the United Nations, it is expected that the agricultural consumption will increase by 70% over the same period.

Additionally, factors such as unfavorable weather conditions (flood, drought, and others) coupled with lack of skilled labor in many regions impede agricultural productivity. Growing need to revolutionize agriculture industry is encouraging technocrats to develop and innovate new technologies such as IoT devices, robot and drone. These technologies are positively impacting the agricultural robots and drones productivity including harvesting, crop spraying, seeding, fruit picking and others.

Dairy farm robots or automatic milking systems (AMS) captured 58.5% market share of agricultural robots and drones market in 2017. Milking robots provide more flexibility and improve the overall milking process than conventional systems. These robots reduce human labour and make milk harvesting efficient Milking robots enable farmers to shift their focus to other areas of farm management such as monitoring cow’s health, vaccinations and others. In addition, it also, assist farmers in monitoring milk production, quality and characteristics at individual (cow) level, driving the demand for robots in farming sector.

With advent of new technologies, smaller and agile organizations enter into the market space and disrupt industry value chain. North America is leading this trend and has seen several start-ups participate in digitalization in agriculture. For instance, start-ups such as American Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2016 to cater the growing needs for digital agriculture in the region. Surging needs for smart machines to reduce expensive human labour particularly, in farming sector drives the North America’s agricultural robots and drones market, which was valued at USD 1.5 billion in the year 2017.

Further, the region is witnessing increase in demand for dairy products that are attracting robot vendors to capitalize on the business opportunity in the region. For instance, in 2017, DeLaval a global player in milking robots announced its plan to set up the largest robotic milking facility in North America at TDI Farms LLC of Westphalia, Mich.

As of 2017, the global agricultural robots and drones industry is concentrated with limited number of players. However, there are many startups and already established companies from agriculture industry are acquiring and collaborating with domestically established companies. There are also many investment coming from venture capitals and funds raised by the startups to develop multiple type of autonomous robots for agriculture industry.

The major players operating in agricultural robots and drones market includes 3D Robotics, Inc., Case IH, DeLaval Inc., Festo AG & Co. KG, Kinze Manufacturing, senseFly (Parrot Group), AgEagle Aerial Systems, FarmBot Inc., Robotnik, AgJunction, Inc., Agribotix LLC, Beijing UniStrong Science & Technology Co., Ltd., L'Avion Jaune, Gamaya SA, and Pix4D.

Key segments of the global agricultural robots and drones market

Type Overview, 2014-2025 (USD million)

• Dairy Farm Robots
• Autonomous Tractors
• Agriculture Drones
• Weeding Robots
• Harvesting Robots

Regional Overview, 2014-2025 (USD million)

• North America
  • US
  • Canada
• Europe
  • UK
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • France
• Asia Pacific
  • Japan
  • China
  • Australia
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
• Middle East & Africa

Key players analysed

• 3D Robotics, Inc.
• Case IH
• DeLaval Inc.
• Festo AG & Co. KG
• Kinze Manufacturing
• senseFly (Parrot Group)
• AgEagle Aerial Systems
• FarmBot Inc.
• Robotnik
• AgJunction, Inc.
• Agribotix LLC
• Beijing UniStrong Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
• L'Avion Jaune
• Gamaya SA
• Pix4D