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Sensor Applications in Agrifood Systems: Current Trends and Opportunities for Water Stewardship

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Aivazidou, Eirini 
Srai, jagjit 

Abstract

Abstract: Growing global food demand and security concerns dictate the need for state-of-the-art food production technologies to increase farming efficiency. Concurrently, freshwater overexploitation in agriculture, especially in arid and water-scarce areas, emphasises the vital role of appropriate water-saving irrigations techniques to ensure natural resources’ sustainability in food supply networks. In line with the development of automated systems, the use of sensors for water monitoring, indicatively in the cases of smart farming or precision agriculture, could further promote the preservation of freshwater resources. To this end, this research first provides a review of sensor applications for improving sustainability in agrifood systems. We then focus on digital technologies applied for monitoring and assessing freshwater utilisation in the food commodities’ sector based on academic literature and real-world business evidence. A contextual map is developed for capturing the main technical, environmental and economic factors affecting the selection of sensors for water monitoring and stewardship during agricultural production. This first-effort framework, in terms of sensor-based freshwater monitoring, aims at supporting the agrifood system’s decision-makers to identify the optimal sensor applications for improving sustainability and water efficiency in agricultural operations.

Description

Keywords

sensor application, agrifood system, food supply network, freshwater monitoring, water stewardship

Journal Title

Climate

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2225-1154
2225-1154

Volume Title

Publisher

MDPI AG
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P027970/1)
This research has received funding from: (i) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) under Reference No. BB/P027970/1, Project Title: “Transforming India’s Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies”, and (ii) the European Institute of Innovation & Technology Food (EIT Food) under Activity Code 19041, Project Title: “The development of organic supply chains that drive fair, transparent and healthy options for the consumer”.