Researcher(s):
Blake Slattengren
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2017 Completed: May 2018 Go to project site
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Agriculture is a dynamic industry that is constantly shifting due to new technologies, especially following the Green Revolution. Agriculture also has large economic, environmental, and social impacts, giving the sector huge importance concerning the sustainable development of nations. Big data is one such technology that is growing in popularity and promises radical changes to agriculture and, as a result, sustainable development. The adoption of big data in agriculture is driven largely by companies, especially early-stage startups. These companies advertise various sustainable development values, but the impacts of large-scale adoption of big data agriculture is still quite speculative. Through analysis of discourse presented by big data companies, core values are demonstrated and present a picture of sustainable development envisioned by the companies pushing the technology. California and India are two locations where big data agriculture is beginning to take off, but they have radically different agricultural sectors with different sustainable development goals. Through statistical, content, and discourse analysis of websites of agriculture data companies based in these two locations, big data has shown potential positive impacts on economic growth, food security in India, and water availability in California. However, there are potential negative impacts on equity, labor, and data security and I propose these as areas to target for proactive technology adoption.