{"id":118220,"date":"2026-10-22T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=118220"},"modified":"2026-10-22T08:33:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T06:33:40","slug":"smart-farming-starts-paying-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/future\/smart-farming-starts-paying-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Farming Starts Paying Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The use of robots, drones and AI tools in agriculture is already paying off on 42 percent of the world\u2019s cropland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could increase to 50 percent in the next 20 years and to as much as 75 percent if every country tightened environmental regulations. If every country loosened its regulations it would fall to 31 percent. These are the main findings from an international study led by the University of Bonn, which is the first to estimate the profitability of smart farming worldwide. What is more, high-tech agriculture often proves profitable precisely in parts of the world struggling with environmental problems such as water stress and overfertilization. The results of the study have been published in the journal PNAS.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Global Potential of Smart Farming Innovations – Smart farming is already paying off on 42 percent of the world\u2019s cropland, especially in North America, Western Europe, Australia and Japan. \u00a9 Illustration: Land Economics Group \/ University of Bonn<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

European and US farms are increasingly turning into high-tech companies: drones spot pest infestations and send their data to agricultural machinery, which then sprays pesticides in specific areas; robots remove weeds before they can cause trouble; and irrigation systems track soil moisture and water the roots only where water is needed. \u201cThese smart farming technologies have the potential to make crop farming more sustainable and environmentally friendly,\u201d explains Professor David Wuepper from the University of Bonn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Wuepper also knows that switching to smart-farming technologies may not make economic sense for every farm, at least in the short term, because they do not come cheap\u2014quite apart from the expertise required to get them set up. There is also significant variation in local conditions, from labor costs and environmental regulations through to the availability of training. \u201cSo we wanted to know where precision agriculture is particularly worthwhile in economic terms,\u201d says Shahrear Roman, a doctoral student in Wuepper\u2019s research group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results of their study published in PNAS show that smart farming already pays off on 42 percent of the world\u00b4s cropland. The profitability of these technologies is unevenly distributed worldwide, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart farming profitability is unevenly distributed worldwide<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The economic benefit is greatest in areas where income and education levels are high, fields are big and environmental regulations are strict, such as Western Europe, Canada, the US and Australia. One reason is that these parts of the world often apply large quantities of fertilizer and pesticides. \u201cSo money can be saved by only applying these products where you really need to,\u201d Roman says. And, because labor also costs more in these places, using machinery and robots makes good sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, the potential of smart farming is currently limited in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. \u201cThis is partly because the available technologies are poorly suited to small-scale agriculture,\u201d points out Wuepper, who is also a member of both the Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) and the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence. \u201cAt the moment, the equipment is being developed with a focus on large, capital-intensive operations in North America and Europe. Going forward, agricultural research and development should be stepping up the search for solutions that will be a sensible option for small farms too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A world map for five technologies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For their study, the researchers began by looking at where in the world smart-farming technologies are already being employed. There are hardly any databases out there that record this information systematically. \u201cSo we wrote to more than 8,000 smart farming experts around the world, asking them whether they knew of places in their area where these technologies were already being used profitably,\u201d Roman explains. The researchers also combed through the scientific literature to find farms that were already using precision farming methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gave the researchers a list of more than 4,000 locations where smart irrigation systems, weeding robots or drone-based analyses are already in use. They then used machine-learning algorithms to investigate what underlying conditions favor a switch to smart farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong environmental governance goes hand in hand with faster uptake<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe found that smart farming already pays off where environmental governance is strongest. It is by far the most important predictor in our models,\u201d Roman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve now taken these findings and extrapolated how the use of smart-farming technologies might change in the future in each region,\u201d Wuepper explains. The researchers also considered regional economic development forecasts in their models, ultimately producing a world map that illustrates where precision agriculture has the greatest potential. They also broke their results down by technology category: autonomous irrigation systems; weeding robots; drones and other approaches that map fields and identify where action is needed; machinery that decides for itself how much fertilizer or pesticide to apply; and GPS steering systems that keep machines on precise tracks and avoid overlaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study also maps where smart-farming could do the most environmental good, by showing where the technologies are profitable and where the problems they can address are most severe. For example, smart irrigation systems are often profitable precisely in those regions that are increasingly battling water shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEcological and economic benefits often go hand in hand. But they do not arrive on their own: without policy, most of the environmental gain stays on the table,\u201d Wuepper concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n