Big Data Driven Smart Agriculture: Pathway for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Increasing agricultural production is top most solution in the face of rapid population growth through digitalization of agriculture by using most developed technology like big data. There is a long debate on the application of big data in agriculture. This study is an attempt to explore the suitability of the big data technologies for increasing production and improving quality in agriculture. The study uses an extensive review of current research works and studies in agriculture for exploring the best and compatible practices which can help farmers at field level for increasing production and improving quality. This study reveals a number of available big data technologies and practices in agriculture for solving the current problems and challenges at field level. A conceptual model is developed for proper implementation of available big data technologies at farmer’s field level. The study highlights data generation procedure, availability of technology, availability of hardware, software, data collection techniques, method of analysis and suitability of application of big data technologies for smart agriculture. The article explores that there are still some challenges exists in this field as a new domain in agriculture like privacy of data, data quality, availability, initial investment, infrastructure and related expertise. The study suggests that government initiatives, public-private partnership, openness of data, financial investment and regional basis research work are necessary for implementing the big data technologies in agriculture at large scale.