Digitalization of the Agriculture in Cyprus

For Cyprus the GVA for 2019 from agrarian sector was 2.3% (% of the total GVA).[1]

Cyprus is on the 24th position as per the DESI index 2020 and on the foremost place of all EU countries in this report.

According to Stylianou (2014, p. 7, Adamides et al. 2013), the main problems of the Agriculture sector in Cyprus are:

· Over-segmentation of the agricultural land

· Aging of the farming population, issue of lack of successors from the new generation

· Low educational level of the farming population. Based on the research sample of Adamides et al. (2013, p. 26), approximately 50% of the farmer population is over 40 years old (25% over 51 years old).

· Less than ideal soil quality, tough weather/climate conditions like irregular raining seasons, prolonged dry seasons, hailstorms etc.

· High production costs

· Problems in terms of trading agricultural goods, caused by the lack of market organisation.

Internet and Communication Technologies can help the farmer population in many ways. They can enable easy access to information/education, communication with peers and partners in the supply chain and they can act as a powerful marketing tool (Adamides et al. 2013). In summary, ICTs can greatly enhance the efficiency of the agriculture business. Surprisingly though, data provided by Stylianou et al. (2014, 2018) and Adamides et al. 2013 reveal that a large number of Cypriot farmers are not using a computer or access the internet in the context of their business. More specifically, research (Adamides et al. 2013, p. 26) showed that approximately 50% of farmers do not use the computer or access the internet on their own. As far as the use of ICT in Cyprus agriculture, the aforementioned research concludes that regardless of using ICT means or not, the overwhelming majority of farmers consider them useful in terms of efficiency, production and innovation. Based on the above, it is reasonable to suggest that before introducing advanced Smart Farming methods to the farmer population in Cyprus, it is important to first create opportunities for education toward a basic ICT skill level.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/food-farming-fisheries/farming/documents/agri-statistical-factsheet-cy_en.pdf - last accesses Octobre 10th, 2020.