Meticulous Research ®, an eminent global research firm, has released a report titled ‘Agricultural Robotics Market by Offering (Hardware, Software), Deployment (Indoor, Outdoor), Automation Type (Automated, Semi-automated), and End Use (Crop Farming, Livestock, Forestry, Fishery), and Region – Global Forecast to 2031.’
According to this new publication from Meticulous Research ®, the agricultural robots market is anticipated to reach $28.2 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 16.6% in terms of value. In terms of volume, the market is expected to reach 30,416,340 thousand units by 2031, with a CAGR of 8.6%.
Market growth is driven by the increasing adoption of drones for smart farming, population growth, labor shortages, and rising government support for the agricultural sector. However, high implementation costs hinder market expansion.
The integration of artificial intelligence into agricultural robots is likely to offer growth opportunities for stakeholders, though challenges such as the lack of technical knowledge among farmers and data privacy concerns remain.
The market is segmented by offering (hardware, software, services), deployment (indoor, outdoor), automation type (automated, semi-automated), and end use (crop farming, livestock, forestry, fishery). The report also evaluates industry competitors and analyzes the market at regional and country levels.
In 2024, the hardware segment is expected to dominate with over 88% market share due to the rising adoption of livestock management robots and rapid automation of agricultural processes. For example, MetoMotion (Israel) introduced an AI robot for tomato picking in February 2023 to address labor shortages. This segment is also projected to achieve the highest CAGR.
The outdoor segment is anticipated to hold the largest share of over 89% in 2024, driven by population growth, labor shortages, and the need for climate monitoring in outdoor farming. Clearpath Robotics Inc. (Canada) launched OutdoorNav Navigation Software in October 2022 for GPS-based navigation. This segment is projected to have the highest CAGR.
Automated systems are expected to account for over 81% of the market in 2024 due to the integration of digitalization, automation, and AI in agricultural robots. Naio Technologies (France) launched Orio, an autonomous robot for large-scale vegetable farming, in February 2022. This segment is projected to have the highest CAGR.
Crop farming is forecasted to lead with over 56% share in 2024, driven by rising labor costs, population growth, and the need to improve yield quality. AGCO Corporation (U.S.) partnered with Apex.AI, Inc. (U.S.) in June 2022 to enhance its autonomous farming robot, Fendt Xaver, with new safety features.
The livestock segment is projected to grow the fastest, driven by the need for livestock monitoring, disease detection, and labor shortages. DeLaval (Sweden) introduced OptiDuo, a feed-pushing robot, in December 2022 to improve milk production.
Europe is expected to dominate with over 34% share in 2024, driven by innovations in agri-tech, food supply chain pressures, and government initiatives. The European Union funded the Robs4Crops project in January 2021 to accelerate robotics in farming.
Asia-Pacific is projected to achieve the highest CAGR of over 18.8%, driven by smart device adoption, food quality demands, precision farming, government initiatives, and the emergence of new start-ups. Countries like China, India, and Japan are enhancing agriculture profitability through automation.
