The Technologies of Kubota's
Smart Agriculture Solutions

Kubota has been involved with agriculture for almost 100 years. We have stayed attuned to the concerns of farmers and thought carefully about the future of agriculture, and all of this has led to new Kubota products and services that address these issues. The same holds true with smart agriculture. We are constantly thinking about adopting and developing new technologies, along with addressing the issues farmers are facing and the needs they will have in the future. Then we come up with new products and solutions that integrate existing technologies with new ones to meet those needs. Kubota will realize smart agriculture that covers the whole spectrum, from current challenges for farmers to anticipated future needs.

Kubota's agricultural machinery has always been available to solve issues faced by farmers and society in any era. Starting with domestic production of agricultural engines and pumps, which were in high demand because of postwar droughts and food shortages, leading to the development of domestically-produced tractors, rice transplanters, and combine harvesters to address labor shortages during the postwar rapid economic growth period, and now to our innovations in smart agriculture in response to modern challenges such as the aging of farmers and environmental issues: Kubota has always kept its approach of first considering the issues facing farmers and society as a whole and then coming up with solutions.

In the 1980s, tractors, combine harvesters and rice transplanters began to take hold in Japan. Kubota developed a tractor with an automatic horizontal control function that combined electronic control and hydraulic technologies to allow even workers without expertise to till the soil evenly. It also developed a power crawler tractor with Kubota's exclusive triangular crawler that provides outstanding traction and maneuverability, along with a rice transplanter that uses GPS to stay in a straight line even with a non-expert rider. These have contributed to the mechanization of agriculture in Japan. Kubota's integration capabilities ascertain detailed needs, bring together technologies, and create new value, opening up new possibilities in smart agriculture.

Smart agriculture requires more than just advanced technologies like AI and robotics. Achieving a sustainable society and agriculture requires a wide range of components, including a system for collecting data in fields, water management for efficient production, eco-friendly farming practices, and the reuse of agricultural waste to generate renewable energy. Kubota strives to address agricultural challenges and promote sustainable food production by integrating its many years of expertise with cutting-edge technologies.

Kubota has continuously met global needs by building on the foundry technology of its original business to develop a series of new innovations. For example, it evolved its casting technologies into technologies for manufacturing scales, and digitized industrial scales to gain new weighing, measurement, and control technologies. These have evolved into IoT solutions. This ability to develop and expand its technological reach is a key strength of Kubota. And from the perspective of sustainable agricultural management, the technologies that Kubota has cultivated, including water treatment and waste recycling, are also essential. By combining these wide-ranging technologies, we will contribute to the realization of smart agriculture.

Kubota is actively working to integrate key technologies for smart agriculture through collaboration with external partners and open innovation. One example is our strategic partnership with American technology company NVIDIA, leveraging a platform that incorporates its AI-based machine learning model to achieve unmanned autonomous operation of agricultural machinery. In addition, we have collaborated with a French startup to develop a solution for vineyards utilizing AI-powered image analysis. By combining and integrating our technologies with new ones from other companies, we are developing innovative solutions essential for smart agriculture.

New ideas emerge when people with various kinds of knowledge and experience engage in continuous discussion and keep taking on new challenges. Kubota’s research and development prioritize the drive of our innovators above all else. The Kubota environment encourages free and open discussion across departmental borders, supports the exploration of new ideas, and provides R&D centers and facilities that bring them to life.

The Kubota Global Institute of Technology brings together about 3,000 employees engaged in design and development. Experts from various departments collaborate here to develop products. For example, during the development of the Agri Robo combine harvester, the world’s first unmanned autonomous combine harvester, machinery and AI specialists from different departments united as a single team. By working toward a shared goal in an open and equal environment, they successfully achieved the novel integration of AI with combine harvesters. Kubota’s research and development is made possible by the interaction of diverse experts and a culture that fosters bold, forward-thinking initiatives.

The Kubota Global Institute of Technology was established with the goals of promoting collaboration across global R&D networks and strengthening the development of products and advanced technologies. Serving as the central hub for R&D centers in various regions, it also provides an environment where new ideas can take shape, with Japan’s largest test courses and experimental fields, along with testing equipment capable of 24-hour continuous automatic operation. Kubota is committed to actively supporting developers in pursuing new ideas and challenges.