It has been argued that future vehicle technology is expected to play a significant role in improving agricultural productivity and reducing carbon emissions in agricultural machinery, and that policy support is needed to secure autonomous driving and electrification technologies specialized for agriculture and to establish an initial market in order to secure global competitiveness for the future agricultural machinery industry.

The Korea Automotive Research Institute stated in a report that the application of future vehicle technology to agricultural machinery is emerging as an alternative for improving agricultural productivity and reducing carbon emissions.

Applying autonomous driving and electrification technologies to agricultural machinery can fundamentally enhance the productivity of labor-intensive agriculture and reduce carbon emissions during production, thereby enabling a transition to eco-friendly farming.

In the autonomous driving of agricultural machinery, tractors, rice transplanters, combines, etc., can be operated with minimal human intervention by equipping them with environmental sensors such as cameras, ultrasound, and lidar, similar to automobiles, and utilizing connectivity technology.

The trend toward electrification of agricultural machinery also aligns with the goal of reducing carbon emissions in the agricultural and livestock sectors to 9.3 million tons by 2050, which is 38% less than in 2018.

The domestic and international agricultural machinery market is worth $100 billion and is expected to show steady growth driven by the application of electrification and autonomous driving technologies.

According to global research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global agricultural machinery market was valued at $99.4 billion in 2021, centered on tractors and harvesters, and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% by 2027. It is expected to reach $126 billion.

The size of the domestic agricultural machinery market is estimated at approximately 2.3 trillion won as of 2021, and it is assessed that the market possesses growth potential through the expansion of agricultural machinery introduction due to the ongoing issues of an aging farming population and insufficient farming scale.

Autonomous driving for agricultural machinery is centered on recognizing the working environment and generating and following paths, and Level 2 commercialization is currently underway.

▲ Status of autonomous driving technology by domestic and international agricultural machinery companies (Data source: Rural Development Administration, Image source: Korea Automotive Technology Institute)

Unlike general public roads, in cultivated land areas, you must be able to navigate ditches and furrows and recognize obstacles such as trees, rocks, and people.

For autonomous driving technology in agricultural machinery, the ability to recognize work areas and various hazards in rice paddies and fields is important, and the process proceeds by generating and following an optimal path after recognizing the work area.

Global companies have entered the Level 2 commercialization stage, and domestic companies are expected to settle into the commercialization stage in 2022.

The Korea Automation Research Institute reported that in the electrification of agricultural machinery, it is important to address high power consumption and ensure safety against external shocks and short circuits.

Agricultural machinery consumes a large amount of power because it performs various power transmission tasks in addition to basic driving, and since external charging is difficult during operation, it is necessary to be equipped with a battery of sufficient capacity.

In addition, be mindful of responding to issues such as short circuits caused by various shocks and moisture ingress that occur when driving on uneven farmland.I have to.

In particular, since there are many cases in Korea where crops are grown in paddies filled with water, such as rice farming, it is important to ensure safety in this regard.

An official from the Korea Automotive Research Institute stated, "Policy support is needed to secure autonomous driving and electrification technologies specialized for agriculture and to form a related market to counter the strong performance of foreign companies."

In addition, he stated, "To secure global competitiveness in autonomous driving and electrification technologies within the agricultural machinery industry, we must develop technologies specialized for the agricultural environment and foster a collaborative environment to create synergy with technologies from other fields," adding, "To expand the adoption of future agricultural machinery, we need to consider measures such as providing subsidies to establish an initial market and offering incentives for replacing aging agricultural machinery."