Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook
This article provides a comprehensive overview of digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture, examining recent applications and future prospects. It examines key water-related challenges - scarcity, pollution, inefficient use and climate change - and shows how various digital t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Agricultural Water Management |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425000617 |
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| author | Carlos Parra-López Saker Ben Abdallah Guillermo Garcia-Garcia Abdo Hassoun Hana Trollman Sandeep Jagtap Sumit Gupta Abderrahmane Aït-Kaddour Sureerat Makmuang Carmen Carmona-Torres |
| author_facet | Carlos Parra-López Saker Ben Abdallah Guillermo Garcia-Garcia Abdo Hassoun Hana Trollman Sandeep Jagtap Sumit Gupta Abderrahmane Aït-Kaddour Sureerat Makmuang Carmen Carmona-Torres |
| author_sort | Carlos Parra-López |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article provides a comprehensive overview of digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture, examining recent applications and future prospects. It examines key water-related challenges - scarcity, pollution, inefficient use and climate change - and shows how various digital technologies such as Remote Sensing, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotics, Smart Sensors and Blockchain can help address them. The review finds that these technologies offer significant potential for improving water management practices, with Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence emerging as the most versatile and widely adopted. Efficient irrigation strategies appear to be the most common application across technologies. Digital solutions significantly reduce water wastage, help identify pollution hotspots, and improve overall water resource management. For example, remote sensing-based approaches (e.g. UAV-mounted multispectral cameras) can accurately monitor soil moisture to optimise irrigation scheduling, while AI-driven models (e.g. random forest or neural networks) can predict groundwater recharge or forecast rainfall events. However, several barriers to widespread adoption are identified, including high implementation costs, lack of technical expertise, data management challenges, and infrastructure and connectivity constraints. The study concludes by suggesting priorities for future research and development, highlighting the need for integrated technological solutions, improved accessibility and affordability, improved efficiency and sustainability, improved water quality, enhanced data management capabilities, and strategies to address emerging concerns such as cybersecurity and the environmental impact of digital technologies themselves. This review aims to inform future research, policy and practice in agricultural water management and support the development of more productive, resilient and sustainable agricultural systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e2ff260eefed4809bbf69d0792cd2c70 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1873-2283 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agricultural Water Management |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2ff260eefed4809bbf69d0792cd2c702025-02-03T04:16:29ZengElsevierAgricultural Water Management1873-22832025-03-01309109347Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlookCarlos Parra-López0Saker Ben Abdallah1Guillermo Garcia-Garcia2Abdo Hassoun3Hana Trollman4Sandeep Jagtap5Sumit Gupta6Abderrahmane Aït-Kaddour7Sureerat Makmuang8Carmen Carmona-Torres9Department of Agrifood System Economics. Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA). Centre ‘Camino de Purchil’, s/n, Granada 18004, SpainLaboratory of Rural Economy. National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunisia (INRAT), El Menzah 1, Tunis 1004-1001, TunisiaDepartment of Chemical Engineering. Faculty of Sciences. University of Granada, Avda. Fuentenueva, s/n, Granada 18071, SpainSustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), Arras, France; College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaCentre for Sustainable Organisations. Management. School of Business. University of Leicester, Brookfield, 266 London Road, Leicester LE2 1RQ, United KingdomDepartment of Mechanical Engineering Sciences. Faculty of Engineering. Lund University, Ole Römers Väg 1, M-Building, Lund 22363, Sweden; Sustainable Manufacturing Systems Centre, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK 43 0AL, United Kingdom; Corresponding author at: Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences. Faculty of Engineering. Lund University, Ole Römers Väg 1, M-Building, Lund 22363, Sweden.Department of Mechanical Engineering. Amity School of Engineering & Technology (ASET). Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Sector-125, Noida 201313, IndiaVetAgro Sup, Unité Mixte de Recherche sur le Fromage UMRF. Université Clermont-Auvergne, INRAE, 89 Avenue de L’Europe, France; Faculty of Agro-Industrial Technology. Universitas Padjadjaran. Sumedang, IndonesiaVetAgro Sup, Unité Mixte de Recherche sur le Fromage UMRF. Université Clermont-Auvergne, INRAE, 89 Avenue de L’Europe, FranceDepartment of Agrifood System Economics. Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA). Centre ‘Camino de Purchil’, s/n, Granada 18004, Spain; Institute of Regional Development, University of Granada, Rector López Argüeta, s/n, Granada 18071, SpainThis article provides a comprehensive overview of digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture, examining recent applications and future prospects. It examines key water-related challenges - scarcity, pollution, inefficient use and climate change - and shows how various digital technologies such as Remote Sensing, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotics, Smart Sensors and Blockchain can help address them. The review finds that these technologies offer significant potential for improving water management practices, with Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence emerging as the most versatile and widely adopted. Efficient irrigation strategies appear to be the most common application across technologies. Digital solutions significantly reduce water wastage, help identify pollution hotspots, and improve overall water resource management. For example, remote sensing-based approaches (e.g. UAV-mounted multispectral cameras) can accurately monitor soil moisture to optimise irrigation scheduling, while AI-driven models (e.g. random forest or neural networks) can predict groundwater recharge or forecast rainfall events. However, several barriers to widespread adoption are identified, including high implementation costs, lack of technical expertise, data management challenges, and infrastructure and connectivity constraints. The study concludes by suggesting priorities for future research and development, highlighting the need for integrated technological solutions, improved accessibility and affordability, improved efficiency and sustainability, improved water quality, enhanced data management capabilities, and strategies to address emerging concerns such as cybersecurity and the environmental impact of digital technologies themselves. This review aims to inform future research, policy and practice in agricultural water management and support the development of more productive, resilient and sustainable agricultural systems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425000617Agriculture 4.0Digital transformationDigitalisationWaterIrrigationPrecision agriculture |
| spellingShingle | Carlos Parra-López Saker Ben Abdallah Guillermo Garcia-Garcia Abdo Hassoun Hana Trollman Sandeep Jagtap Sumit Gupta Abderrahmane Aït-Kaddour Sureerat Makmuang Carmen Carmona-Torres Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook Agricultural Water Management Agriculture 4.0 Digital transformation Digitalisation Water Irrigation Precision agriculture |
| title | Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook |
| title_full | Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook |
| title_fullStr | Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook |
| title_short | Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook |
| title_sort | digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture recent applications and future outlook |
| topic | Agriculture 4.0 Digital transformation Digitalisation Water Irrigation Precision agriculture |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425000617 |
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