Despite the impressive achievements of modern science and technology, the fight against hunger on the planet in recent decades has not brought adequate results, according to scientists of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).
New opportunities and risks brought by the robotization of agriculture and food industry were analyzed by MGIMO scientists. According to them, ensuring global food security is possible only through the mass introduction of new technologies at all stages of food production. Robotics will play an increasingly important role in this process.
"Agrobots are used in crop production for planting seeds, watering, weeding, caring for fruit trees and bushes, harvesting, land monitoring, and pest control. In livestock and poultry farming, robots can also do a lot, they are engaged in milking and feeding, cleaning facilities.
Current research does not adequately cover the risks associated with robotization, according to the authors of the study. Robotics, they argue, not only creates a competitive advantage, but also exacerbates the problem of technological inequality between countries and regions.
Reducing labor requirements through the use of robots gives a serious competitive advantage to countries with both vast land resources and low population density. According to this approach, the main goal of robotization is "not to replace, but to help."
"The obvious benefits of this phase of robotization can be seen as increased productivity in the raw materials sector, increased production of value-added products in the processing sector, reduced downtime and improved capacity utilization at all levels of the production chain, and reduced operational risks," the researchers conclude.
Thanks to advances in science, the accuracy of robots is constantly improving, the researchers note. This allows them to be allowed to work with increasingly delicate products.
In some areas of the food industry, robots already perform about a third of manufacturing operations and more than 90 percent of packaging tasks.
MGIMO researchers note that the introduction of complex universal robotic systems is still a task for the future.













