Even if the digitalization of the farming field shows many advantages, and even if many operations have been carried out thanks to the use of the European funds, there are still many obstacles to the development of farming digitalization full potential in Europe.
The digital technologies can help farmers to “produce more with less”.
The digitalization can help in producing more and it can also improve the work conditions, as underlined in the Declaration of Cork 2.0. This document states that the use of digital technologies will be more and more essential for farmers and for other farming business in order to make farmers able to give sustainable solutions to current and future challenges.
The European Commission, in the last years, has committed to promoting the digitalization of the farming area in Europe in order to grant that “each field in Europe, big or small, where ever it is placed and whatever area, can take advantage of the digital innovations…”
In the notice “How to build a European economy of data” the CE searches how data can potentially offer opportunities to the European industry, including the agricultural area.
It is beyond question that there are big potentialities of change for the farming world, connected to the strengthening of digitalization in this area.
What are the barriers of the digital innovation in the farming field?
Access to loans, limited availability of basic technologies and infrastructure, especially in underdeveloped countries, seems to be the most common barriers to the development of technologies in the farming, but also the challenges in the social and institutional areas represent a limit.
How to remove the barriers?
One of the priorities is “to rely on the knowledge, the innovation and the technology” namely:
- make a better connection between what we know and what we farm, this could be promoted by the use of the smart agriculture;
- anticipate the future needs of knowledge by promoting more financing for the research;
- make the exchange and the transfer of knowledge more easy.
- push the use of new technologies for control and monitoring
- promote the digitalization of the farming life
Reference: https://www.techeconomy2030.it/2019/12/02/a-che-punto-siamo-con-la-digitalizzazione-del-settore-agricolo/