Asia's farms embrace tech revolution as workers become scarce

Self-cleaning shrimp tanks and AI-operated hog farms take over labor-intensive jobs

20191126N hogs

Charoen Pokphand Foods's new artificial intelligence-powered facility closely tracks human traffic as well as the hogs' condition.

TOMOYA ONISHI and MARIMI KISHIMOTO, Nikkei staff writers

HANOI/BANGKOK -- Agricultural and fishing industries in Asia are being transformed by technology as the cheap and abundant labor that they long relied on erodes due to demographic pressures.

Rising wages across other industries have created a labor shortage in the traditional staples of economies, especially in Southeast Asia. To make up for a shrinking population of farmers, companies are adopting artificial intelligence and drones to help grow food more cheaply and efficiently.

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