Increasing scarcity and cost of labour are driving forces behind automation in agriculture. As costs decrease and functionality improves, robotics and other autonomous farming technologies will become increasingly common, enabling farmers to maximize resource use efficiency while avoiding or reducing pesticide use.
The policy brief examines the market forces and regulatory landscape driving the application of precision farming and offers policy recommondations to promote the use of autonomous agricultural machines.
Author: Jens Fehrmann (Technical University of Dresden)