The role of the internet of things in enabling sustainable agriculture in Europe

Abstract

Considered is the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) as an enabler for sustainable agriculture. Rather than using the IoT in support of precision agriculture, which it is argued is a technology of the past that grew out of a system of industrial scale intensive agriculture, it is proposed that the IoT in agriculture should be used to better understand and support the management of biodiversity, as well as the management of other natural resources such as water used for irrigation. In this context, things are defined by zones, fields, farms, landscapes, and key parameters within these things. Through Internet enabled systems, a platform could be built for managing farm activities within the context of preserving and enhancing biodiversity (which is severely threatened by industrial scale intensive agriculture) as well as reducing water use. Such an IoT application will provide the basis for future sustainable intensification of agriculture to meet the projected growth in the demand for food, but in a way that respects natural constraints, and which delivers system-level benefits in terms of biodiversity at different levels (field, farm, and landscape). Such a system could also enable land-use management which could facilitate decisions to be made about where to intensify production and where to de-intensify, as it would provide data with extended timescales appropriate to that of ecological systems. Such data could be used in the medium to long term to establish exactly what effect agricultural practices and technologies are having upon factors such as biodiversity, helping to identify complex interrelationships. Such a system would then provide a basis to support farmers in adjusting their agronomy practices to satisfy local biodiversity requirements and natural resource limitations.