What Are the Implications of Digitalisation for Agricultural Knowledge?

Abstract

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In this perspective paper we consider the implications of a digital transformation for agricultural knowledge, a subject which hitherto has received limited attention. We raise critical questions about how digital agriculture will intersect with established modes of knowing and decision-making. We also consider the implications for the wider Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), specifically the roles and capabilities of those who provide advice to farmers, as well as those responsible for data analytics, and the organizations and institutions that link and support them. We conclude that new data driven processes on farm, as well as the changing AKIS dynamic under digital agriculture, bring new demands, relations and tensions to agricultural decision-making, but also create opportunities to foster new learning by harnessing synergies in the AKIS.

Keywords

• digital agriculture
• agricultural knowledge and innovation system
• knowledge
• smart farming
• farmer
• big data