Exploring the role of smartphone technology for citizen science in agriculture

Dehnen-Schmutz Katharina, Foster Gemma L., Owen Luke, Persello Séverine. 2016. Exploring the role of smartphone technology for citizen science in agriculture. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 36 (5):e25, 8 p.

Résumé : Citizen science is the involvement of citizens, such as farmers, in the research process. Citizen science has become increasingly popular recently, supported by the proliferation of mobile communication technologies such as smartphones. However, citizen science methodologies have not yet been widely adopted in agricultural research. Here, we conducted an online survey with 57 British and French farmers in 2014. We investigated (1) farmer ownership and use of smartphone technologies, (2) farmer use of farm-specific management apps, and (3) farmer interest and willingness to participate in agricultural citizen science projects. Our results show that 89 % respondents owned a smartphone, 84 % used it for farm management, and 72 % used it on a daily basis. Fifty-nine percent engaged with farm-specific apps, using on average four apps. Ninety-three percent respondents agreed that citizen science was a useful methodology for data collection, 93 % for real-time monitoring, 83 % for identification of research questions, 72 % for experimental work, and 72 % for wildlife recording. Farmers also showed strong interest to participate in citizen science projects, often willing to commit substantial amounts of time. For example, 54 % of British respondents were willing to participate in farmland wildlife recording once a week or monthly. Although financial support was not always regarded as necessary, experimental work was the most likely activity for which respondents thought financial support would be essential. Overall, this is the first study to quantify and explore farmers' use of smartphones for farm management, and document strong support for farm-based citizen science projects.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : petit agriculteur, technologie de l'information, vulgarisation agricole, développement agricole, aide à la décision, approche participative, approches de vulgarisation, approches communautaires

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : France, Angleterre

Classification Agris : C20 - Vulgarisation
A01 - Agriculture - Considérations générales

Champ stratégique Cirad : Axe 1 (2014-2018) - Agriculture écologiquement intensive

Auteurs et affiliations

• Dehnen-Schmutz Katharina, Coventry University (GBR)
• Foster Gemma L., Coventry University (GBR)
• Owen Luke, Coventry University (GBR)
• Persello Séverine, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR HortSys (REU)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/580870/)

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