Smart Agriculture from a Sudanese Perspective

Abstract

Smart agriculture as a new term may be unknown or it is not widely in Sudan even among the academicians. This paper is an attempt to find out the constraints facing the adoption of smart agriculture in Sudan and what are the future trends for its application in the country. This paper is mainly dependent on revising the available literature and grasping the facts about the current and future status of agriculture in Sudan. The following constraints are facing adoption of Smart agriculture: the natural and anthropogenic factors. Natural factors can be summed up in the deterioration of the natural conditions by dry spells and climatic changes. While man-made factors include: deforestation, over-cropping, mono-cropping, agricultural financing credits, poor marketing channels, instable economic policies, etc….. In conclusion From a Sudanese perspective smart agriculture is that agriculture which can remain productive in the face of stresses and shocks i.e. while maintaining the viability of the agro-ecosystems supported by vast area of agricultural lands, sufficient ground and surface water as well as rainwater in addition to presence of large number of agricultural experts and indigenous cultural practices. Its main objective is therefore to attain sustainable yield per unit area. Smart Agriculture can be adopted in Sudan by solving the natural and man-made constraints and strengthening the institutional infrastructure of the country as well as relying on the indigenous knowledge to sustain generally the total productivity of food crops.