[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/10035\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EFuturistic fields: Europe\u2019s farm industry on cusp of robot revolution\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the Dutch province of Zeeland, a robot moves swiftly through a field of crops including sunflowers, shallots and onions. The machine weeds autonomously \u2013 and tirelessly \u2013 day in, day out.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFarmdroid\u201d has made life a lot easier for Mark Buijze, who runs a biological farm with 50 cows and 15 hectares of land. Buijze is one of the very few owners of robots in European agriculture.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobots to the rescue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHis electronic field worker uses GPS and is multifunctional, switching between weeding and seeding. With the push of a button, all Buijze has to do is enter coordinates and Farmdroid takes it from there.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018With the robot, the weeding can be finished within one to two days \u2013 a task that would normally take weeks and roughly four to five workers if done by hand,\u2019\u0026nbsp;he\u0026nbsp;said. \u2018By using GPS, the machine can identify the exact location of where it has to go in the field.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout 12 000 years ago, the end of foraging and start of agriculture heralded big improvements in people\u2019s quality of life. Few sectors have a history as rich as that of farming, which has evolved over the centuries in step with technological advancements.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the current era, however, agriculture has been slower than other industries to follow one tech trend: artificial intelligence (AI). While already commonly used in forms ranging from automated chatbots and face recognition to car braking and warehouse controls, AI for agriculture is still in the early stages of development.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNow, advances in research are spurring farmers to embrace robots by showing how they can do everything from meeting field-hand needs to detecting crop diseases early.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cstrong\u003ELean and green\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFor French agronomist Bertrand Pinel, farming in Europe will require far greater use of robots to be productive, competitive and green \u2013 three top EU goals for a sector whose output is worth around \u20ac190 billion\u0026nbsp;a year.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003ELabour is one of the biggest obstacles in agriculture.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EFritz van Evert, ROBS4CROPS\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EOne reason for using robots is the need to forgo the use of herbicides by eliminating weeds the old-fashioned way: mechanical weeding, a task that is not just mundane but also arduous and time consuming. Another is the frequent shortage of workers to prune grapevines.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018In both cases, robots would help,\u2019 said Pinel, who is research and development project manager at France-based Terrena Innovation. \u2018That is our idea of the future for European agriculture.\u2019\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPinel is part of the EU-funded \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101016807\u0022\u003EROBS4CROPS\u003C\/a\u003E project. With some 50 experts and 16 institutional partners involved, it is pioneering a robot technology on participating farms in the Netherlands, Greece, Spain and France.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018This initiative is quite innovative,\u2019 said Frits van Evert, coordinator of the project. \u2018It has not been done before.\u2019\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cstrong\u003EIn the weeds \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAI in agriculture looks promising for tasks that need to be repeated throughout the year such as weeding, according to van Evert, a senior researcher in precision agriculture at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018If you grow a crop like potatoes, typically you plant the crop once per year in the spring and you harvest in the fall, but the weeding has to be done somewhere between six and 10 times per year,\u2019 he said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPlus, there is the question of speed. Often machines work faster than any human being can.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EWith this robot everything is done in the field.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EFrancisco Javier Nieto De Santos, FLEXIGROBOTS\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFrancisco Javier Nieto De Santos, coordinator of the EU-funded \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101017111\u0022\u003EFLEXIGROBOTS\u003C\/a\u003E project, is particularly impressed by a model robot that takes soil samples. When done by hand, this practice requires special care to avoid contamination, delivery to a laboratory and days of analysis.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018With this robot everything is done in the field,\u2019 De Santos said. \u2018It can take several samples per hour, providing results within a matter of minutes.\u2019\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEventually, he said, the benefits of such technologies will extend beyond the farm industry to reach the general public by increasing the overall supply of food.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnloved labour \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, agricultural robots may be in demand not because they can work faster than any person but simply because no people are available for the job.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEven before inflation rates and fertiliser prices began to surge in 2021 amid an energy squeeze made worse by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine this year, farmers across Europe were struggling on another front: finding enough field hands including seasonal workers.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Labour is one of the biggest obstacles in agriculture,\u2019 said van Evert. \u2018It\u2019s costly and hard to get these days because fewer and fewer people are willing to work in agriculture. We think that robots, such as self-driving tractors, can take away this obstacle.\u2019\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe idea behind ROBS4CROPS is to create a robotic system where existing agricultural machinery is upgraded so it can work in tandem with farm robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the system to work, raw data such as images or videos must first be labelled by researchers in ways than can later be read by the AI.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cstrong\u003EDriverless tractors\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe system then uses these large amounts of information to make \u0022smart\u0022 decisions as well as predictions \u2013 think about the autocorrect feature on laptop computers and mobile phones, for example.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nA farming controller comparable to the \u0022brain\u0022 of the whole operation decides what needs to happen next or how much work remains to be done and where \u2013 based on information from maps or instructions provided by the farmer.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe machinery \u2013 self-driving tractors and smart implements like weeders equipped with sensors and cameras \u2013 gathers and stores more information as it works, becoming \u0022smarter\u0022.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECrop protection\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFLEXIGROBOTS, based in Spain, aims to help farmers use existing robots for multiple tasks including disease detection.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nTake drones, for example. Because they can spot a diseased plant from the air, drones can help farmers detect sick crops early and prevent a wider infestation.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018If you can\u2019t detect diseases in an early stage, you may lose the produce of an entire field, the production of an entire year,\u2019 said De Santos. \u2018The only option is to remove the infected plant.\u2019\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFor example, there is no treatment for the fungus known as mildew, so identifying and removing diseased plants early on is crucial.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPooling information is key to making the whole system smarter, De Santos said. Sharing data gathered by drones with robots or feeding the information into models expands the \u0022intelligence\u0022 of the machines.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough agronomist Pinel doesn\u2019t believe that agriculture will ever be solely reliant on robotics, he\u2019s certain about their revolutionary impact.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u2018In the future, we hope that the farmers can just put a couple of small robots in the field and let them work all day,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWatch the video\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe allow=\u0022accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 height=\u0022315\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/europa.eu\/webtools\/crs\/iframe\/?oriurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FBRrB-LfTAUk\u0022 title=\u0022YouTube video player\u0022 width=\u0022560\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-nvh6slqpvvun-sjrxdc01n87fbr7ccs7jb5-tijakoa\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-Nvh6SLQPVVUn-sjrxDC01n87fBr7CCS7JB5-TIjaKoA\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]