English Abstract
Abstract :
The agriculture sector is on the edge of a revolutionary era driven by advancing technologies. These technologies are revolutionizing agriculture, providing unprecedented opportunities for enhanced efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. To successfully integrate these technologies, governments, researchers, and farmers must work together to overcome obstacles and ensure a fair, ethical, and inclusive change in global agriculture. The Kingdom of Bahrain, a small island in the Arabian Gulf, faces intrinsic agricultural challenges such as arid soil and climatic conditions and a lack of water supply. Furthermore, the agriculture industry in Bahrain has yet to embrace the opportunities presented by the digital revolution ultimately. On the other hand, due to the lack of available explicit agricultural data, Bahraini farmers rely heavily on traditional methods and existing knowledge. This study introduced a framework for national agriculture Big Data in Bahrain with four main objectives. Firstly, it focused on exploring the level of awareness and digital readiness among farmers in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This investigation is crucial for enhancing the farmers' digital capacity and skills. Secondly, the study investigated agriculture data needs supply and demand dynamics. It involved identifying available data sources, understanding the specific requirements of each stakeholder, and addressing the challenges associated with acquiring agricultural data. Additionally, the study emphasized the importance of such data to establish a user/owner structure for managing agriculture Big Data in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Building upon the insights gained from the first two objectives, the third objective was to develop a conceptual framework for agriculture Big Data in Bahrain. Integrating Big Data tools and cloud services facilitate multi-access levels of the stored data for different stakeholders. Lastly, the fourth objective involved the development of a simulation model based on the framework developed in the previous objective. This model assesses the feasibility and simulate different processes and functionalities of a smart agriculture platform. Given the multifaceted nature of the research, a diverse set of research approaches were implemented. The methodologies encompassed a closed-ended questionnaire distributed to over 100 farmers and farm tenants. On-site farm visits were conducted to observe and understand the available farming operations and how they ran. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with different agriculture stakeholders, and an extensive review of pertinent literature was conducted, all framed within a conceptual framework. The tools and technological resources utilized included wireless soil sensors, a multispectral camera, cloud services (Google Cloud Platform), a remote sensing platform, and different other tools as the primary development environment. The study revealed notable obstacles encountered by agriculture data applications in the Kingdom of Bahrain, such as the lack of sufficient techniques and tools for data gathering, inadequate data access interfaces, and restrictions on data sharing due to different limitations. Moreover, there is a lack in Big Data frameworks that can efficiently manage Bahrain's agricultural environment. However, the findings demonstrated a conspicuous and evident enthusiasm for agricultural technology among individuals; nonetheless, agriculture stakeholders showed a limited understanding and adoption of Information and Communication Technology tools to run their daily farming operations. Based on the approaches conducted to explore the agriculture environment in Bahrain, a framework was built to cater specifically to the distinctive attributes while considering obstacles such as small-scale agricultural practices and farmers' low proficiency in Information and Communication Technology. The framework consisted of two stages: an initial stage focused on enhancing Information and Communication Technology capabilities among agriculture stakeholders and a subsequent step demonstrating the semi-autonomous gathering, storage, and analysis of agriculture data. Finally, a simulation model was developed in the cloud using Google Cloud services, incorporating customized Application Programming Interfaces, a Progressive Web App, and smart agricultural equipment and technologies. Achieving agriculture sustainability in Bahrain necessitates an action plan with collaboration and support from agriculture stakeholders and policymakers. Initially, this collaboration should raise awareness and usage towards adopting Information and Communication Technology in agriculture and transform the awareness into actual use. To encourage more usage, Information and Communication Technology services for agricultural production should be developed to be accessible to all users, considering all age groups. Moreover, Information and Communication Technology for agriculture diffusion using emergent technologies such as Internet of Things and Big Data is a priority. This initiative marked the first step in building a conceptual process for collecting, storing, and transforming agriculture Big Data in Bahrain. In line with the agricultural policy formulated in the early 2010s, this study set the stage for furthering research in several areas relevant to agriculture.
