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 robot tractors autonomously on public roads and spraying pesticides with drones.

Under current laws, robot tractors capable of autonomous operation must be manned when traveling on public roads, such as from a warehouse to a field. When multiple tractors are used on vast farmland, each tractor must be manned, preventing farmers from fully realizing the benefits of the labor-saving technology.

In the special zones, autonomous tractors will be allowed to travel on public roads without a driver onboard when moving in a convoy with a manned truck or other vehicles. Regulatory requirements will also be eased to develop the communications infrastructure necessary for unmanned operations.

There are already examples of the national strategic special zone system being used in agriculture, including in the central Japan city of Niigata, where an exception was made to allow farmers to open restaurants on their farmland.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]