Introduction to the Special Issue on Iot and Agriculture

The articles in this special section focus on the Internet of Things and agriculture. We are on the verge of a new agricultural revolution. If we look at the extended agricultural sector, intended as the one cultivating plants and farming livestock, with the exception of mechanization and the introduction of chemicals (often referred to as the 3rd agricultural revolution) there have not been too many changes in the past few hundred years. In fact, due to its intrinsic complexity and variability imposed by type, climate, soil, meteo, etc., looking after a living object (be it a plant, a fi sh or an animal) has been until now and for the past millennia probably characterized by success practices passed down from father to son. Such a view is supported by statistics like those published by the EU, showing for example that 93.7 percent of all farms are run by only family workers1: well established and stable business models, best known by the locals and refi ned over centuries of family trial and error. Until recent years, challenges posed by climate change as well as globalization are undermining the stability of those models and the status-quo of agricultural businesses as there are many more factors that can infl uence the successful outcome of cultivations and farming. More meteorological extreme events, global warming, foreign pests and diseases2, coupled with a global reduction of arable land3 and an increase of population on earth4, all point in one direction: the need for improved quality and quantity of agricultural monitoring data, for more insightful interpretation of cause-eff ect relationships, and for a more effi cient and sustainable use of natural resources such as land, water, etc.