Applications of Smart Agriculture in Irrigation Water Management in Developing Countries: The Way Forward

Agriculture is the backbone of the world’s population, being the primary source of food production. Climate change affects agriculture in various ways, including changes in typical temperatures, precipitation, and atmospheric conditions. Advanced automation of agronomic activities for land preparation, irrigation water management, pesticide application, fertilizer application and harvesting has substantially improved agricultural productivity. In many agricultural regions, determining the exact amount of water to provide for many crops is an unsolved challenge due to the impact of climate change. One of the best solutions for overcoming this difficulty could be to use precision farming technologies to increase agricultural productivity, reduce pollution, and lower production costs while overcoming climate change issues. Smart agriculture plays an important role in agriculture to maintain the sustainability of agricultural systems and improve the country’s economic growth. It means that smart farming supports agronomic practices such as estimating crop area, monitoring crop growth, estimating soil moisture, evaluating soil fertility, detecting crop stress, detecting diseases and pests, yield estimation, and weather forecasting. The smart irrigation system is being used in agriculture to address water scarcity due to climate change. This review covers the importance of smart farming applications in irrigation water management to increase farm productivity by overcoming climate change, using less human energy, increasing efficiency, and improving management techniques through precision farming technologies.