Fruit Picking Robots Market Size (2023-2030)

The Global Fruit Picking Robots Market was estimated to be worth USD 650 Million in 2022 and is anticipated to reach a value of USD 1,610.53 Million by 2030, growing at a fast CAGR of 12.01% during the forecast period 2023-2030.

Fruit-picking robots are autonomous machines that help in the harvesting of fruits from farmlands. These robots are equipped with advanced technologies, which include computer vision, machine learning, robotic arms, and others that help farmers identify ripe fruits, pluck them from trees and plants, and then store them in containers. Further, these robots are equipped with cameras and sensors that help to analyze the colour, texture, appearance, and ripeness of fruits. Moreover, the robotic arms are equipped with advanced grippers and suction devices that can pick and pluck fruits from the field without damaging the plants. Additionally, it offers 24*7 operation, which increases the efficiency of fruit picking and harvesting. Furthermore, these robots can pick wide varieties of fruits such as apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, and others by analyzing their structure and ripeness. Apart from this, technological developments in developed countries such as the infusion of AI and advanced algorithms that provide data analysis of fruits and crop management techniques, are further fuelling the market growth for fruit-picking robots.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Drivers:

Technological advancements in agriculture drive the market for fruit-picking robots:

Technology has revolutionalized the agricultural sector in a way that enhances its efficiency and productivity. These include the use of advanced sensors and cameras that help the fruit-picking robots in capturing the surrounding environment and analysing fruit characteristics, ripeness, and others. Moreover, these robots are equipped with LiDAR and infrared sensors that enable precise fruit detection, and navigation, to avoid collisions with surrounding obstacles in the farmland. Additionally, advancements in robotic arms have enabled easy fruit picking and handling. Moreover, these arms are equipped with gentle gripping mechanisms that utilize soft grippers made of silicone or rubber that maintain a gentle touch while gripping the fruits. Further, cloud connectivity has allowed farmers to receive and monitor real-time data such as monitor the progress, performance, and status of these robots and store data for future analysis. Furthermore, the growing demand for energy-efficient technologies has induced manufacturers to build robots with efficient power management systems and incorporate lightweight designs for easy mobility.

Increasing demand for efficiency and productivity by farmers has boosted the market for fruit-picking robots.

Fruit-picking robots have cut down labour costs and have enabled task automation for farmers. These robots can work continuously without break, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity in farming. Moreover, unlike human labourers that have variations in speed and energy, fruit-picking robots have a consistent speed and energy throughout the fruit-picking operation, which maintains uniformity. Additionally, these robots offer task automation that reduces the harvesting time and completes more tasks quickly. Other than that, fruit-picking robots enable farmers to optimize resource allocation, which includes crop management and monitoring, maintenance, and others that help in maximizing farm productivity. Furthermore, fruit-picking robots eliminate the human error of wastage and lower quality harvest, resulting in a higher yield quality of fruits.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Challenges:

High-investment costs can hamper the market for fruit-picking robots. Fruit-picking robots require higher initial investments, which are difficult to afford by developing countries, resulting in declined demand for them. Other than initial investment costs, constant maintenance and software upgradation costs can decrease their demand by farmers and farm owners.

Furthermore, assessing the ripeness of the food can become a challenge as these robots analyze the ripeness of fruits based on the external environment and computer vision algorithms, which provide inaccurate results and result in fruit plucking before the maturity stage.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Opportunities:

The Global Fruit Picking Robots Market is anticipated to deliver lucrative opportunities for businesses, which include acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, product launches and agreements during the forecasted period. Furthermore, advancements in robotics and the rapid adoption of technology-integrated farming are predicted to develop the market for Fruit Picking Robots and enhance its future growth opportunities.

COVID-19 Impact on the Global Fruit Picking Robots Market:

The pandemic had a significant impact on the fruit-picking robots market. Due to the lockdown and social distancing norms, there was a shortage of labour, which resulted in increased usage of these robots for fruit picking as they provided contactless picking and provided remote monitoring to farmers. However, this was only limited to developed countries, developing countries with limited budgets faced the challenges of supply chain disruptions in harvesting and distributing fruits, resulting in declined demand for fruit-picking robots.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Recent Developments:

In September 2021, Advanced Farm Technologies raised $25 million in funding for developing its fruit-picking robots. With this investment, the company aimed to develop apple-harvesting robots with advanced technology.

FRUIT PICKING ROBOTS MARKET REPORT COVERAGE:

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Segmentation: By Type

• Semi-Automatic Picker

• Automatic Picker

Based on market segmentation by type, automatic picker occupies the highest share in the market, these robots offer full task automation to farmers and helps in reducing human labour cost. Further, these robots use computer vision that enables them to detect and recognize fruit for estimating their ripeness. Additionally, automatic fruit pickers provide autonomous navigation that enables robots to move autonomously within the fields. Further, due to increasing demand for AI technologies, manufacturers are incorporating AI algorithms that provide advanced data analysis and remote monitoring of fruits to farmers. The semi-automatic picker occupies a sizeable share of the market. These robot pickers require some level of human intervention in picking and sorting fruits such as a remote control operated by a human that guides the robot in picking the targeted fruit. These robots are in great demand in developing countries among small and medium farmer owners as it offers affordability and control of the system.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Segmentation: By Application

• Strawberry Picking

• Apple Picking

• Orange Picking

• Grape Picking

• Cherry Picking

• Berry Picking

• Stone Fruit Picking

• Others

Based on market segmentation by application, apple-picking robots occupy the highest share of the market. These robots automate the labour-intensive task of apple picking with the help of computer vision and help to identify ripe apples based on their shape, size, and colour. The strawberry picking segment is the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period. Strawberries are delicate fruits that require precise handling. Strawberry-picking robots are equipped with rubber/silicone robotic arms that enable careful handling of strawberries without damaging them. Further, some robots are equipped with advanced grippers that help to detach the fruit from the plant without causing any harm to the plant.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Segmentation: By Technology

• Machine Learning

• Computer Vision

• Robotic Arm

• Sensing Technology

Based on market segmentation by technology, computer vision and machine learning technology occupies the highest share of the market. Computer vision robots are equipped with advanced cameras and image processing systems that allow robots to recognize the fruit’s colour, size, shape, and texture and determine its ripeness. On the other hand, machine learning technology utilizes advanced algorithms that help these robots identify different fruit varieties and their ripeness status.The robotic arm technology is the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period. Due to growing trends of human-like robots, manufacturers have built robots with arms that can mimic human-like actions and pluck fruits without damaging plants and trees. Moreover, these arms are flexible and can pluck fruits from hard-to-reach places.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Segmentation: By Deployment

• Fixed

• Portable

Based on market segmentation by deployment, portable robots occupy the highest share of the market. These robots are mobile and flexible and are equipped with wheels or tracks. These robots are versatile and can pluck different types of fruits from plants or trees on uneven surfaces such as rocky terrain. Further, they have autonomous tools that efficient operations with minimal human intervention.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Segmentation: By End-User

• Agriculture

• Horticulture

• Greenhouses

Based on market segmentation by end-user, the agriculture segment occupies the highest share of the market. Fruit-picking robots are used to pluck and harvest fruits which reduces human labour and saves the cost of farmers. They can work on various farm sizes and helps to collect fruits precisely at a faster level, thus providing faster efficiency and increased profitability for farmers. The horticulture segment occupies a significant share of the market. Fruit-picking robots are majorly used for picking apples, oranges, strawberries, and other types of fruits in horticulture. Some of the robots are equipped with robust grippers and suction cups that enable delicate handling and faster plucking of fruits. Moreover, the growing demand for automation has induced manufacturers to build robots with sorting systems that help farmers in automating collecting and sorting tasks efficiently.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Segmentation: By Region

• North America

• Europe

• Asia Pacific

• Middle East and Africa

• South America

Based on market segmentation by region, North America occupies the highest share of the market. Due to the shortage of labour and the prevalence of capital-intensive farming techniques, fruit-picking robots are increasingly demanded in the region. Further, farmers are increasingly adopting automation technologies for increased productivity and efficiency, which has increased the demand for fruit-picking robots in the region. Furthermore, these robots are mostly used for picking apples and oranges in the region using advanced suction arms and grippers. Furthermore, advancements are taking place in manufacturing kiwi and strawberry-picking robots in the region. Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing region during the forecast period. Due to the increasing demand for accurate and precision agricultural technologies, there is an increase in demand for fruit-picking robots in the region. Further, emphasis on sustainable agriculture technologies that reduce wastage and promote eco-friendly farming practices has boosted the market for fruit-picking robots. Moreover, flying robots or aerial robots are widely used in the region that enable easy fruit plucking and efficient transportation of fruits in the region. Japan is the leading country in manufacturing fruit-picking robots in the region.

Global Fruit Picking Robots Market Key Players:

1. Ripe Robotics

2. Advanced Farm Technologies

3. Shibuya Seiki

4. Tevel Aerobotics

5. Antobot

6. FFRobotics

7. Robotics Plus

8. Earth Rover

9. Augean robotics

10. Agrobot

11. Blue River Technology

12. Harvest CROO LLC