Agricultural Labor Shortages & the Ensuing Focus on Filling the Worker Supply Gap with Machines to Spur Opportunities for Harvesting Machinery

The acute pain of agricultural labor shortages made more intense against a backdrop of growing population and food demand, urgent need for arable land expansion and farm productivity improvements to achieve food security goals are poised to drive the global market for Harvesting Machinery to reach US$36.9 billion by 2024

Harvesting machine is a mechanical device that aids in harvesting of crops by performing farm practices such as plucking, cutting, thrashing and winnowing. Harvesting machinery ranks as the second largest market segment in the global agricultural equipment market, following farm tractors. Against the backdrop of population growth, the need to increase food production through limited arable land is rendering mechanization of farming activities a necessity. Machines, such as harvesters, are considered to be a boon as they enable in multiplying the yield output by saving significant amount of time and effort. Future growth in the market is forecast to come primarily from developing regions of Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and The Middle East, where farm automation still remains unpopular. The untapped market potential offers lucrative growth opportunities for harvesting machines. Other factors driving growth in the market include increase in energy crop cultivation, labor shortages, government subsidies, easy availability of credit, and growing interest in innovative agricultural practices, such as precision farming. Key among these is the worsening labor shortages. The trend towards rapid urbanization has lured several workers from the rural areas towards lucrative opportunities in the urban terrains resulting in acute shortage of agricultural labor and labor becoming expensive, which in turn is driving prospects for agricultural equipment such as harvesting machinery.  

Technological advances in hydraulic cylinders, crop measurement systems, real time data gathering, detection of crop maturity, hands- free steering and contouring, and other innovative intelligent technology concepts are also expected to spur growth in the market. The shift towards biofuel operated harvesting machinery represents a major trend. Given the volatile oil prices and growing environmental concerns over fossil fuel powered machinery, manufacturers are shifting their focus towards developing harvesting machinery that runs on alternative fuels, such as bio-based fuels. Despite the opportunities for growth, the market will continue to face challenges posed by the steady rise in demand for used farm equipment and popularity of the certified pre-owned programs. Once popular in the U.S., certified pre-owned programs are rapidly gathering steam in Europe and other parts of the world.

As stated by the new market research report on Harvesting Machinery, Asia-Pacific represents the largest market worldwide. Buoyed by the towering presence of China and India, the region also ranks as the fastest growing market over the analysis period with projected sales growing at a compounded annual rate of 7.7%.  Key factors driving growth include the pressing need to meet the huge food requirements of the growing population; growing pressure to improve farm productivity; government stimuli encouraging farm mechanization; rising concerns over land degradation and the ensuing focus on machine harvesting in light of benefits offered like reduced risk of soil erosion, increased soil fertility and crop yield.

Key players in the market include AGCO Corporation, CLAAS KGaA mbH, CNH Industrial N.V., Deere & Company (John Deere), Dewulf NV, Kubota Corp., Lovol Heavy Industry Co.Ltd., Ploeger Oxbo Group, Preet Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd., Rostselmash, SAME Deutz Fahr, and Sampo Rosenlew Ltd., among others.

The research report titled “Harvesting Machinery - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, drivers, and other strategic industry activities of market participants.  The report provides market estimates and projections for major geographic markets, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, India, South Korea, and Rest of Asia-Pacific), The Middle East & Africa, and Latin America (Brazil, and Rest of Latin America).

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