Automation and the use of drones and robotics is an integral part of the agriculture industry since the invention of electricity. In fact, in some developed countries, machines have largely replaced manual labor in agriculture. Wheat, rice, tea, lettuces, and more are now being planted, cultivated and harvested with as little interventions from direct manual labor. Even Christmas trees are harvested by machines nowadays. Farmers, as they grow their business, start to adopt the use of technology to make their farms productive, efficient, and competitive. Are we seeing the same thing when it comes to marijuana cultivation?
With productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness in mind, more and more marijuana growers are eyeing robotics and drones to fully automate their cultivation and harvesting of marijuana. There are greenhouses that are fully automated, with a computer controlling the humidity, temperature, and even time for watering the plant. At the moment, among many companies, drones are the hottest toys. There drones used for harvesting. Some drones are capable for indoor planting of marijuana. We have even witnessed drones that are used to check on the health of the plants.
UNDERSTANDING WHY AUTOMATION IN MARIJUANA INDUSTRY IS NEEDED
The industry of marijuana is growing exponentially. In fact, the whole industry of commercial medical and recreational cannabis is expected to grow to as much as $57 billion in the next decade. Just a few years ago, the prohibition on marijuana as an illicit drug has prevented the growth of the industry. Many growers were capable of producing more but were just too afraid to actually grow their business lest they are found out by authorities. However, with the legalization of both recreational and medical marijuana in the last few years, this sector has seen an unprecedented growth. As many businesses in marijuana begin to come out from the shadows, we are seeing more and more entrepreneurs rapidly scales up their enterprises from mere indoor gardens to industry level of agriculture – often requiring acres upon acres of land. More than ever, we are seeing farmers and growers spring up with novel and innovative ideas to raise their businesses’ productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE OF CANNABIS INDUSTRY – TECHNOLOGY USE FOR CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA
At the moment, some robotic companies are looking into mish mashing robotics with drone technology. R&D departments of various tech companies are now checking out how to deploy smart drones that can intelligently target specific parts of the plants in harvesting without damaging the sensitive parts of the crops. Some are also looking into how to scale up the use of drones for more efficient harvest.
Drones and automated machines are now rapidly being tinkered on by scientists and engineers to help the marijuana farmers. This will surely boost the industry of marijuana at a faster and bigger rate. In fact, with the automation of most work on a farm, a marijuana grower can easily increase his or her farm’s productivity, efficiency and competitiveness exponentially.
Of course, the use of machine is not all rainbows. There are people who are actually worried about the route the marijuana industry is going. When talking about the future of robotics, people are wary about the replacement of humans with machines. But the opposite is true. In most industries, like car manufacturing, robots have replaced many of the manual labors. But, the installation of robots have also created new jobs as more cars are now being manufactured at faster rates. This means, undoubtedly, automation in many parts of cultivation and harvesting of marijuana will make some types of work or jobs obsolete. But, this will also create new jobs. As robotics and drones replace manual labors, industries of marijuana growers will soon require human resources who are skilled in many types of new jobs.
With the legalization and the growing acceptance of society in the use and trade of marijuana, the whole industry of cannabis is seeing a very promising future. Automation with the use of computers, drones, and robots will seriously scale up this industry. By then, many of the countries worldwide will soon realize the benefits in legalizing marijuana to their own economies.