Nileworks Inc., together with Ja Miyagi Tome and Trading House Sumitomo Corp., has been testing Nile-T18, a drone to make farming easier for Japanese farmers. The drone can spray pesticides and fertilizers to a rice field faster than an average farmer. Nile-T18 is also much smaller, cheaper, and easier to use than a radio-controlled mini-helicopter.

Nileworks’ goal is to lessen the physical burden of farming because most of the farmers in Tome have an average age of 67-68 years old. The developers also believe that the involvement of advanced technology would bring interest to young people to do the work. Nileworks aims to sell 100 units by May 2019 and 4,000 units in the next five years.