Universal Robots (UR), Denmark-based collaborative robots (cobots) technology leader, today urged local farmers to adopt advanced technology and automation solutions to further foster growth in Malaysia’s agricultural sector.
Regional Director of Asia-Pacific in Universal Robots James McKew says, “Automation may mean traditional industrial robots, which are expensive to purchase, inflexible, space-hogging, and often require robotic engineers for programming and maintenance.
“Cobots are versatile and flexible, are designed to work alongside human workers, and can relieve repetitive tasks such as manual pollination so that humans can take on better roles that tap on cognitive and social abilities.
“Farmers and food producers are reaping the benefits of cobots to increase productivity and efficiency in many locales.”
In ASEAN, the agricultural sector has been a significant economic driver. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in ASEAN contributed by the agricultural sector ranged from 0.03% to 22.8%.
Accounting for 22.8%, Myanmar and Cambodia contributed to the highest GDP while Singapore had the lowest GDP contribution of 0.03%.
Malaysia was ranked eighth among the ten ASEAN countries, contributing 7.4% to its GDP in 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia recorded a decrease in the production of major commodity crops in 2020.
In addition, ageing farmers, rural-urban migration, and 3D (dirty, dangerous, and demeaning) association with agricultural jobs led to a labour shortage.
The shortage of capital investment in Malaysia’s agriculture sector means that smallholder farmers who do not have adequate funding, will not be able to purchase automated hardware such as robotic harvester, which could help combat the labour shortage.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) says,”Foreign workers’ absence had also resulted in a labour shortage during the movement control period (MCO) which led to a sharp decline in the country’s GDP, including a 1% drop in the plantation-related subsector.”
