Chapter-24: Digital Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods

This concept of digital agriculture is shifting towards one where the adoption of innovative technology like artificial intelligence, remote sensing, IoT, and analysis will lead to enhanced productivity, efficiency in markets, and improved quality of life for people in rural areas. Digital agriculture represents an innovative technology that offers great benefits when it comes to increasing the incomes of farmers, minimizing risk through better information sharing, and decision making using advanced tools and techniques. Empirical evidence on digital agriculture reveals that digital interventions are particularly helpful in improving price discovery, stabilizing incomes, and promoting data ecosystems in agriculture. Nevertheless, the success of digital agriculture is threatened by some structural issues such as the digital divide, cost, lack of digital literacy, and institutional barriers. This chapter will look at the various models, policies, and approaches that will be required to overcome these obstacles. Ultimately, digital agriculture will be shaped by intelligent integration and inclusion of advanced technologies within agriculture systems supported by effective policies.