Digital Agroecology: Sensor and Data Technologies to Promote Regenerative Food Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Faced with global issues, including climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, impaired water quality and reduced availability, overuse of agrochemicals, and rising greenhouse gas emissions, smallholder farmers often bear the greatest burden. These challenges are even more pressing for rural areas and communities in developing countries, where severe resource constraints are common. Investing in strengthening small-scale agriculture worldwide presents a key opportunity not only to address these global issues but also to improve the livelihoods of millions of farmers and their communities.

In this context, agroecology offers a promising pathway toward the development of resilient and regenerative food systems. Agroecology encompasses a wide range of practices, such as agroforestry, permaculture, mycoagroecology, rainwater harvesting, integrated pest management, and aquaponics, all of which promote sustainability by integrating ecological principles into farming. As a holistic approach, agroecology also emphasizes the social and economic dimensions of food production. It fosters the co-creation and sharing of knowledge, promotes cultural and food traditions and diversity, and advocates for social equity, fairness, and synergies.

However, the application of agroecological practices is still limited; they are often implemented on a small scale and face barriers to broader implementation, including a lack of extensive scientific validation. This lack of scientific evidence can also contribute to the reluctance of smallholder farmers to incorporate agroecological practices into their production systems due to concerns about efficacy and potential financial risks.

The increasing use of sensor and data technologies in optimizing resource use, improving productivity, and reducing the environmental impact of farming production—including practices known as “precision farming” and “Agriculture 4.0”—could play a transformative role in advancing regenerative food systems based on agroecological practices.

In the near future, the continued development and application of sensor and data technologies, along with complementary technological tools (e.g., high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics), could serve as key drivers in facilitating the adoption of agroecological models and regenerative food systems, scaling them beyond the small farm level and contributing to the democratization of digital agroecological solutions for sustainable, safe, and nutritious food production. However, enabling policy frameworks are needed to bring agroecological approaches to scale.

This Special Issue aims to highlight advancements in sensor and data technologies that support agroecological practices. We invite you to submit original research articles and reviews (interdisciplinary submissions are especially welcome) on any aspect related to the use and integration of innovative practices and cutting-edge technologies (including socio-economic, policy, and impact assessment dimensions) for the monitoring and optimization of regenerative agriculture and livestock farming systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following research areas:

• Remote sensing technologies (satellite remote sensing and UAV remote sensing);
• Ground-based proximal sensing (e.g., soil sensors, water sensors, weather stations, plant sensors, livestock wearables);
• Biosensors
• Scalable next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods;
• Metagenomics;
• Internet of Things (IoT);
• GPS and GIS technologies;
• Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL);
• Big data cloud computing and blockchain;
• Agroforestry (silvopasture and forest farming);
• Permaculture;
• Multiple cropping practices (intercropping, polyculture including hedgerows, buffer strips, and cover crops);
• Mycoagroecology and mycosilviculture;
• Korean natural farming;
• Rainwater harvesting;
• Integrated pest management, uses of plant biostimulants, and plant resistance inducers;
• Sustainable livestock production (livestock grazing systems and agropastoral systems);
• Integrated agri-aquaculture and livestock–fish farming systems (aquaponics, integrated fish farming).

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Gerardo Grasso
Dr. Marcello Biocca
Dr. Oriana Gava
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. AgriEngineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• agroecology
• soil microbiome
• aquaponics
• sustainable livestock production
• precision farming
• remote sensing
• sensors and biosensors
• high-throughput sequencing
• artificial intelligence
• big data cloud computing