Kubota Corporation, Topcon Corporation and Topcon Positioning systems Inc, have announced that they have entered into a "collaborative research agreement in the field of smart agriculture".

In a statement the companies pledge they will ".. work together to innovate for future commercialisation through mutual research in the field of smart agriculture, bringing together the technologies and know-how developed by each company."

Explaining the background and objectives for the agreement, the statement continued, "While global food demand continues to increase and labour shortages at production sites also remains a concern, there are increasing expectations for smart agriculture to improve work efficiency and productivity.

Kubota has continued for many years to supply products and services for the agricultural industry world-wide, while Topcon has been promoting the automation of farm operations through auto-steering, crop analysis technologies and digital transformation solutions.

"Both companies, each having its own technical knowledge, work collaboratively to move forward with research and development in smart agriculture. This includes the collection of agronomic data using various sensor technology; research on crop cultivation solutions utilising big data; fleet management and automation technology."