FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
Iseki announced the development of an unmanned tractor that operates without a pilot under the supervision of a human operator. With 123 horsepower, one of the largest in Japan, the tractor will support labor-saving agricultural work amid the trend toward large-scale farming. Priced from 21.9 million yen, the tractor will be marketed to large-scale farmers, mainly in Hokkaido.
The company’s human-supervised robotic tractor, which previously had a maximum power of 98 hp, has increased its power to 123 hp, thereby expanding the range of work and reducing the time required. It also reduces the time needed to train farmers who are unfamiliar with operating the tractor, allowing them to work more efficiently.
Source: The Nikkei
PSR Analysis: T Unmanned tractors have been also introduced by Kubota and Yanmar, but Yanmar’s 113-horsepower model was the largest model to date among Japanese manufacturers. The 123-horsepower model developed by Iseki will be the largest model by a Japanese manufacturer and is expected to meet the demand for tractors in Hokkaido, where farmland is becoming more concentrated and the area under cultivation is increasing.
Smart agricultural machinery has already become a new competitive axis for manufacturers, and they are all working hard to develop new technologies. The biggest challenge in making agricultural machinery more intelligent is the extent to which it can contribute to labor savings in the sense of making up for the year-to-year decline in the number of farmers. PSR
By Akihiro Komuro, Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia
