Smart Farming and Sustainable Agriculture Application, Issues and the Way Forward

Abstract

Sustainable Agriculture is described as a system that improves the quality of environment and the base of resources on  which agriculture depends, meets the basic needs of humans for food and fibre, economically viable, improve the quality of life for farmers and the society as a whole over the long term. This paper explores smart farming for promoting sustainable agriculture, its application, issues and the way forward. The review was organized under the concepts of smart farming, smart farming techniques, smart farming applications in agriculture, influence of smart farming techniques on sustainable agriculture, challenges to effective smart farming applications. The findings from the review revealed that the application of smart farming techniques is effective in crop and livestock management, soil health monitoring, big data analytics for farming insights, real-time livestock monitoring, and smart irrigation system. In conclusion, the review emphasizes the transformative potentials of smart farming techniques for sustainable agriculture in Nigeria. It recommends the need for the Governments and development part­ners to provide training and educational programs on smart farming technologies to help farmers adopt new technologies through seminars, workshops and conferences, smart farming technologies tools should be inculcated into Nigeria’s farming system to increase productivity and enhance food security. Provision of financial and incentives support programs such as grants, subsidies, low-interest loans, and tax credits specifically, for farmers to adopt changes from traditional farming to smart farming and the new technologies to fully harness the benefits of smart farming.