Agricultural Technologies as Living Machines: Toward a Biomimetic Conceptualization of Smart Farming Technologies

Abstract

Smart Farming Technologies raise ethical issues associated with the increased corporatization and industrialization of the agricultural sector. We explore the concept of biomimicry to conceptualize smart farming technologies as ecological innovations which are embedded in and in accordance with the natural environment. Such a biomimetic approach of smart farming technologies takes advantage of its potential to mitigate climate change, while at the same time avoiding the ethical issues related to the industrialization of the agricultural sector. We explore six principles of a natural concept of biomimicry and apply these principles in the context of smart farming technologies.