Japan to Designate AI Agriculture Special Zones in Hokkaido
Tokyo, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government decided Thursday to designate 19 municipalities in the Tokachi region of the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, including the city of Obihiro, as national strategic special zones to promote AI-powered agriculture. The government will apply special deregulation measures to the areas, including simplifying procedures needed to operate ro...
The Japanese government announced on Thursday the establishment of 19 municipalities in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido as national strategic special zones aimed at promoting AI-driven agriculture. These areas will benefit from special deregulation measures, including easing procedures for the use of autonomous robot tractors on public roads and in pesticide spraying via drones.
Currently, robot tractors designed for autonomous operation require a human presence when traveling on public roads, a constraint that hampers the full potential of labor-saving technology, especially on large farms. The special zones will permit these tractors to travel on public roads unattended when operating as part of a convoy with a manned vehicle.
Regulatory requirements concerning the development of necessary communications infrastructure for unmanned operations will also be relaxed in these regions. The government's decision builds on the existing national strategic special zone system, already implemented in Niigata, where farmers were permitted to operate restaurants on their farmland.
Written by urgent.news from Nippon.com News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
