The role of demonstration farms in testing and applying Smart Farming Technologies
Smart Farming represents the application of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into agriculture. Smart Farming Technologies (SFT) can provide benefits in terms of environmental solutions (resource efficiency, precise optimisation of inputs), and provide added value for farmers in the form of better decision making or more efficient operations and management.
The main objective the Smart-AKIS project was to set up a self-sustainable Thematic Network on Smart Farming Technology designed for the effective exchange between research, industry, extension and the farming community so that direct applicable research and commercial solutions are widely disseminated and grassroots level needs and innovative ideas thoroughly captured. The Smart-AKIS project assessed end-user needs and interests for SFT and identified factors influencing adoption of Smart-AKIS in order to understand farmers’ technological needs, interests and perceptions regarding SFT throughout the EU.
One of the findings from Smart-AKIS was that the most consistent and valued source of information to support farmers in fostering the adoption of SFT was farmer-to-farmer networks of information exchange, including demonstration activities at the farm level. Demonstrations of SFT are deemed a key factor for their adoption through demonstration farms, peer groups or farmers groups and are efficient approaches for users to see upstream and downstream implications, costs, and usability of Smart Farming technologies.
SFT demonstration farms are a crucial ingredient of agricultural knowledge exchange for innovation in the horticulture sector as they can help to show farmers how certain technology or machinery works, with the benefit of having the opportunity for open-field experiments and first-hand testing the SFT directly on the field and in those particular field conditions. Demonstration farms can also be places for knowledge exchange and farmer-to-farmer information sharing to enable farmers to get acquainted with the latest technological achievements, and gain insight into their potential.
The Smart-AKIS Policy Recommendations which centred on Smart Farming Support Strategies suggested the benefits of pairing demonstration farms with education, training and advisory services for enhanced innovation and knowledge exchange. The establishment of accessible demonstration farms which are focused on SFT in the horticultural sector could support acceleration of digital innovations, testing the economic, technical, and environmental gains resulting from use of different SFT.
Find out more about this innovation by contacting Róisín on roisin@erinn.eu. For more innovations like this, visit our Innovation Hub.
