A Panorama of Digitalization Tendencies in the European Agriculture Sector

Abstract

Digitalization in the agricultural sector is an imperative upgrade required to confront the predicted food security challenges announced by the United Nations and Food and Agriculture Organization. Smart agriculture goes beyond primary production (crop diseases, crop production), influencing the complete agricultural value chain, including sustainability and the environment. The present paper results were obtained through a well-documented literature review of European smart-farming projects and a quantitative analysis of the actual status of information, communication, and technology practices implemented among the member states. The research questions aimed to assess the European smart-farming projects’ distribution among the agricultural value chain and to evaluate digitization’s current status at the country-level among member states. At first glance, European Union has implemented over 30 projects with the primary scope to streamline the agricultural sector through massive investments in high-tech technology, autonomous robots, special workshops, and multiple training pieces for farmers and other parties involved along the value chain. The outcomes indicate that the European efforts were mainly orientated towards adding value to the “input-supply” stage. The following immediate focus was to support the entire agricultural supply chain. This article enriches the current literature through a unique combination of the European agricultural value chain and a structured review of the main digitalization projects implemented or which are under-implementation processes among the value chain.