Smart Farming Technologies and Sustainability

Abstract

This chapter discusses how smart farming technologies are being used to optimise and transform agricultural practices and food systems to make them more sustainable and resilient to the climate change and food security crises. These include precision farming, water-smart, weather-smart, carbon, and energy-smart, as well as knowledge-smart agricultural practices. Adoption of these technologies comes with various barriers and drivers which hinder or aid farmers in their transition to digital agriculture. These are categorised into socio-demographic, psychological, farm characteristics, technology-related, systemic, and policy factors. The chapter also discusses international visions of future food systems based on digital technology promoted by international agencies such as the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank as well as the European policy framework to support and monitor digitisation in agriculture and the food system.