I was asked by farmers to create a robot that can carry heavy stuff.

You mean something like a truck?

Doesn't make ANY difference unless they can invent a robot that can actually do ALL the work. The majority of the farmers are over 65. In 20 years they'll be pushing 80. Then what?

Wish Granted:

Behold, the Forklift!

(You don't need to reinvent the wheel and/or use very specific/ custom sized tech when general tech already exists...)

Better would be to make Japanese agriculture more attractive to younger folks..... Or import Zimbabwean farmers....!!??

God forbid they should allow immigration to do the job.

When technological singularity comes, humans won't have to worry about food. sarcasm

What they are really after is for the government to subsidize a vastly expensive, but very unnecessary project which will enrich Japanese robot manufacturers at the cost of the taxpayers for the benefit of Japanese farmers, whose votes are counted three times compared to the rest of us suckers who only get one vote each.

In America farms have been consolidated and well organized. For a couple of decades they have been harvested by automated harvesters using computers and GPS systems. The hardest work the farmer has to do is climb up into the drivers seat. That is not to say that American farms are not subsidized, but food is cheap enough in America that even the poor classes can eat well.

In America farms have been consolidated and well organized.

All that, and you left out the part about the million illegal Mexican laborers - without which US agriculture as you know would cease to exist. I did a comparative study of produce in the US and Japan, along with US farmers. The computerized sorting machines (yes, that's a big part of farming) in Japan were miles ahead of the US.

Let's not even get into the incredible waste of water in California - a huge hidden cost.

There is nothing at all magically efficient about US farms except the advantage of size and the widespread use of illegal labor. Personally, I think automation is preferable to illegal labor.

All that, and you left out the part about the million illegal Mexican laborers - without which US agriculture as you know would cease to exist. I did a comparative study of produce in the US and Japan, along with US farmers. The computerized sorting machines (yes, that's a big part of farming) in Japan were miles ahead of the US.

Hmm, America has been the world's largest agricultural producer for a long time, and you forget that America does have a program for Mexicans to work in agriculture legally. Please post a link to your study, we would love to see it. The average Japanese farm is about what, 1/20th the size of an average American farm. Japan has 4600 hectares of farmland, America has 2.3 billion hectares. Yet I suppose that Japan has managed to come up with more efficient ways to harvest and sort food generated by the average 1.65 hectare Japanese farm? Do you think we are stupid?