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For several months, developers and farmers in northeast Japan
have been testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields
and perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time it
takes for elderly farmers.
"This is unprecedented high technology," said Isamu Sakakibara,
a 69-year-old rice farmer in the Tome area, a region that has
supplied rice to Tokyo since the 17th century.
Developers of the new agricultural drone say it offers high-tech
relief for rural communities facing a shortage of labor as young
people leave for the cities.
"As we face a shortage of next-generation farmers, it's our
mission to come up with new ideas to raise productivity and
farmers' income through the introduction of cutting-edge
technologies such as drones," said Sakakibara, who is also the
head of JA Miyagi Tome, the local agricultural cooperative.
The drone can apply pesticides and fertilizer to a rice field in
about 15 minutes - a job that takes more than an hour by hand
and requires farmers to lug around heavy tanks.
The Nile-T18 was developed by drone start-up Nileworks Inc and
recently tested in collaboration with JA Miyagi Tome and trading
house Sumitomo Corp.
Their aim is to ease the physical burden and improve
productivity in rural areas battling decades of falling birth
rates and migration to urban areas.
In Tome, farmers are an average 67-68 years old and they may
only have another 4-5 years of farming left, Sakakibara said.
"It's a matter of whether the body breaks down first, or the
tractor," he added.
Compared to larger radio-controlled mini-helicopters that cost
around 15 million yen ($135,758) with spray equipment, the drone
is smaller and cheaper, with a pricetag of about 4 million yen.
Nileworks is negotiating with authorities to allow operators to
fly its drone without a license. It can be controlled with an
iPad and runs on mapping software that is simple to operate.
"Our ultimate goal is to lower rice farming costs to one-fourth
of what it is now," Nileworks President Hiroshi Yanagishita told
reporters.
The drone can quickly analyze a rice stalk and determine how
much pesticide or fertilizer it needs, making it easier for
farmers to judge their input needs and estimate the crop size.
Nileworks plans to start selling the drone in May, with an
annual target of 100 units in year one and 4,000 in five years.
Other drone makers such as SkymatiX Inc, jointly owned by
trading house Mitsubishi Corp and electronics maker Hitachi Ltd,
are offering drone services on farms.
Shota Chiba, a 29-year-old farmer in Tome, said technology can
modernize farming and lure young people back to the land.
"People still have a strong stereotypical image of farming as a
dirty and hard-labor job, but it's no longer all true thanks to
gradual mechanization," Chiba said.
"New technology like diagnostic drones could help change this
old image and attract more young people to farming, which I
truly enjoy," he added.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
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