New technologies as a driver of change in the agricultural sector

Abstract

Faced with a demographic boom, enormous urbanization and a lack of agricultural land, traditional agricultural production is losing pace with new needs and demands. Due to the increased demand for food, efforts are being made to develop technologies that would improve production, with the sustainable use of existing resources. Solving this challenge is possible by introducing Internet of Things technologies, satellite navigation, mobile communications and ubiquitous computing, which is called smart agriculture. The main goals of smart agriculture are to increase yields (provide information needed to analyze and make decisions that will maximize yields), efficient water use, more efficient agricultural operations (automation of daily activities, real-time monitoring, advanced analytics, daily and seasonal forecasting), cooperation with suppliers and public administration are more efficient and take place in real time). This article highlights the potential of the Internet of Things, big data and drones in agriculture, as well as the challenges of applying these technologies in relation to traditional agricultural practices.