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As the shortage of agricultural workers becomes more serious, there is an urgent need to make labor-saving efforts and improve productivity through “smart farming” that utilizes advanced technology. It is hoped that the government will actively support and promote its spread.
Smart farming is intended to increase productivity through labor-saving efforts such as by using agricultural machinery equipped with advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, information technology and robotics.
The Diet recently passed a law to promote smart farming. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month also announced a policy to designate the five-year period from fiscal 2025 “a period of intensive measures for agricultural structural transformation” and to create a new support system related to smart farming.
According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, the number of people in 2024 whose main job is farming is about 1.1 million, down about 30% from 10 years ago. It is estimated that the figure will plummet to 300,000 over the next 20 years. The average age of these people is nearly 70, indicating a marked aging of the workforce.
To strengthen food security and realize a stable supply, smart farming must be spread quickly.
Under the new law, government-affiliated financial institutions will provide low-interest loans to support smart farming, with the purpose of encouraging not only the use of IT, but also the introduction of “new production methods” through such means as remodeling farms so that robots can work easily there.
For example, it is envisaged that farms will be converted to those that allow automatic harvesting robots to move easily by widening gaps between rows at asparagus farms and planting trees in higher density and in straighter lines in apple orchards.
In addition to the small size of farms in Japan, many are located in mountainous areas, making them more labor-intensive. As a result of such factors, the profitability of Japanese agriculture is low, it loses out in competition with imported products, and the number of agricultural workers does not increase.
It will be difficult to rebuild the nation’s agriculture without reviewing the way farms are run in the first place. It is important to develop Japanese agriculture into a “profitable business” by increasing profitability through the large-scale expansion of farms as well as the introduction of new production methods.
On the other hand, although automated tractors that use global positioning system location data and unmanned, automated combines used to harvest rice have been put into practical use, their high price has hindered their widespread adoption.
As robots for harvesting vegetables and fruits and other purposes are technologically difficult to develop, few companies have entered the market.
Under the new law, low-interest loans also will be provided to companies that develop such technology. It is important to give them solid support.
In terms of having a stable food supply, the problem of elderly farmers abandoning cultivation is a serious issue. It is hoped that smart farming will soften the image of hard labor, attracting younger generations from regions other than farming villages and reducing the number of abandoned farms.
