Digitization of Water Management in Agriculture: Economics, Management and Policy

Dear Colleagues,

The advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the agricultural sector is opening up new opportunities to encourage the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and resource use by providing more timely and low-cost information services to farmers, as well as assisting private and public agencies in coordinating agricultural agents. The potential benefits brought about by the use of ICTs in agriculture are particularly relevant for the management of water resources at different operational levels. Regional environmental agencies, local water authorities, advisory services and farmers are thought to be the first recipients of such instruments. The sweeping progress in the development of monitoring devices (field and plant sensors, meteorological information) and forecasting tools is contributing to increasing the reliability of the information needed to support the ordinary management of water resources and to protect against extreme weather events. This is accompanied by an improvement in data acquisition through decision support systems (DSS), increasing the ease of use of such technologies. As a consequence, the technological advancement of the digitalization of water management is knocking down knowledge and skill barriers to managing large bodies of information and complex equipment, allowing the use of such technologies by an increasing number of potential beneficiaries and changing information power relationships, with direct effects on governance.

This Special Issue of Digital calls for contributions on this subject, including review articles about the state of the art in the use of ICTs for the management of water resources in agriculture, highlighting limits and opportunities; evidence related to the use of ICTs for the management of water resources in agriculture at the case study level, highlighting positive/negative socioeconomic and environmental implications; and theoretical analysis about the implications of possible changes in the information environment brought about by the introduction of ICTs to the governance of water resources in agriculture. Contributions in the fields of law, economics and sociology are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Davide Viaggi
Dr. Francesco Galioto
Dr. Meri Raggi
Prof. Dr. Giacomo Zanni
Dr. Francesco Cavazza
Dr. Matteo Zavalloni
Guest Editors

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