The ever-growing demand for production of food is one of the biggest factors propelling the need to develop systems to increase the yield and the profitability of the farm. The agriculture industry is witnessing a revolution owing to the introduction of smart technologies on farms. With the advancements in these technologies, the agriculture industry is drawing several professionals, companies and investing bodies toward it.

With the initiation of drones and robots in the agriculture industry, it is expected that a number of processes can be automated with high precision and limited intervention. For instance, it is expected that tractors can become fully autonomous, agriculture robots can help take care of processes such as harvesting, weeding, and seeding of crops along with nurturing them during their growth cycle. These robots can also be used for applications such as feeding and herding of livestock, soil and field mapping, field inspection, crop health monitoring and spraying, among others.

Agriculture drones and robots are also expected to resolve a major concern related to the shifting structure of the workforce in the industry. With an increase in the average age of the farmers across countries, the agriculture workforce is becoming expensive, globally. This shift has propelled the growth in the adoption of smart farming practices with an increase in use of drones and robots in agriculture.

Based on the report published by BIS Research, the Global Agriculture Drones and Robots Market – Analysis and Forecast, 2018-2028, the agriculture drones and robots market is projected to reach $23.06 billion by 2028 from $2.53 billion in 2018. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.76%, during the forecast period from 2018 to 2028.

The growth of the market is supported by the requirement to incorporate farming that is site-specific, reducing number of agricultural labor across the world, and variable application of resources and raw materials as per the requirement. Also, the rise in the number of applications in agricultural areas, such as livestock monitoring and management, forestry, orchids, precision crop farming, indoor farming, and aquaculture, among others are propelling the rate of adoption for agriculture robots.

However, there are certain factors such as price inflation of agricultural produce, high capital investment, and lack of technical awareness amongst farmers, that are responsible for restraining the growth of the market.

Based on the report published by BIS Research, the global agriculture drones market has been segmented into type, application, and region. Also, the global agriculture robots market is segmented on the basis of type, farm produce, model, farming environment, and region. Based on the segmentation of the agriculture drones market on the basis of type, the market is further segmented into fixed wing drone, single and multi-rotor drone, and hybrid VTOL drone. The global agriculture robot market by type is further segmented into milking robots, harvesting and picking robots, weeding robots, autonomous robot tractors, and others.

At present, there are several companies that are operating in the market, out of which, the key players are recorded in the report along with their financial summary, role in the market, product offering and their SWOT analysis.

Some of the notable key players are Deere and Co., Trimble Inc., AGCO Corporation, Parrot SA, GEA Farm Technologies, Lely S.a.r.l., Afimilk Ltd., PrecisionHawk., AeroVironment Inc., DeepField Robotics, EcoRobotix, Abundant Robotics, Naio Technologies, and Boumatic Robotics.

At present, the market is highly fragmented, owing to a number of small and mid-sized companies competing in the market. This has helped end-users create a value by updating their existing product profile and also by launching new products and technologies.