Stella Provelengiou is the Senior Content Manager at Wikifarmer, an open-access knowledge platform focused on empowering farmers through reliable, multilingual content. With an academic background in plant sciences and plant breeding, Stella has worked in agricultural knowledge management for over four years, helping bridge the gap between science and hands-on farming.
Working with a global perspective from Greece and beyond, she shared her insights on the key challenges farmers face today, the importance of policy, technology, and education, and the role AI and younger generations will play in transforming agriculture.
Daniyal: What are the biggest challenges facing the agriculture industry in 2025?
Stella Provelengiou: There are many, but climate change is the first and most urgent one. It’s not just a theoretical issue. it’s hitting farmers hard across the globe. Whether it’s droughts, unpredictable weather patterns, or soil degradation, the impact is very real.
Second, she highlights the disconnect between policymakers, researchers, and farmers. There are many sustainable farming systems regenerative agriculture, agroecology, and climate-smart farming but there’s still a lack of clarity around what they mean. Even researchers don’t always agree, so imagine how overwhelming this is for a farmer trying to make decisions on the ground.
Lastly, say the disruption of food supply chains. From rising costs of fertilizers to geopolitical tensions, farmers are caught in a complex web of uncertainty, which directly threatens food security and their own financial stability.
Daniyal: Are there solutions to help farmers overcome these challenges?
Stella: The solutions already exist but access is the real barrier. Many effective, sustainable practices have been developed by farmers themselves, often long before modern discussions around sustainability. What’s lacking is the communication and support needed to help farmers implement these solutions.
She referenced her involvement in the Lighthouse Farms Network, a project led by Wageningen University, which highlights real farms around the world implementing innovative, sustainable practices like strip cropping and regenerative systems with measurable success.
The information is out there. What’s missing is support for implementation and access to knowledge.
Daniyal: With so much talk around data and AgTech, what kind of data is most useful for farmers?
Stella: We live in a big data era, but more data isn’t always better. Farmers often struggle not with collecting data. but with understanding and applying it. Simple tools like field sensors that help reduce fertilizer or pesticide inputs can offer immediate, actionable value.
She emphasized the importance of software that translates data into simple actions. Expecting farmers to become data analysts is unrealistic. The real value lies in making insights user-friendly, contextual, and practical.
Daniyal: Why do you think farmers are often slow to adopt technology like ERP or farm management platforms?
Stella: While acknowledging that adoption is increasing, She pointed out that complexity, cost, and lack of training remain major barriers. Farmers are required to be experts in so many areas already soil, crops, finance, regulations, and new tech can often feel like just another burden unless it’s intuitive and proven.
Farming is knowledge-intensive. If technology adds stress instead of simplifying tasks, it won’t be used.
She recommends a combination of funding, training, and better design to help drive adoption along with making it crystal clear how a tool will improve yields, save time, or reduce costs.
Daniyal: What role will AI play in farming, soon or long term?
Stella: AI is already playing a growing role in agriculture, but Stella sees its greatest potential not as a standalone solution, but as a coordinator. bringing together data from various systems and making it usable and relevant for farmers.
AI tools can simplify interfaces, offer voice-based interactions, and automate decision-making. But she also stressed the importance of data quality reminding that AI should source knowledge from experts, researchers, and farmers, not just rehash content from the internet.
Final Thoughts
Her perspective is rooted in a rare balance of scientific background, practical exposure, and global outreach. Her work at Wikifarmer, offering multilingual, freely accessible knowledge to farmers, highlights a clear mission: empowerment through education.
We don’t necessarily need new solutions. we need to amplify existing ones, simplify access, and build stronger bridges between farmers, technology, and policy.
Technology should make farming easier not more complicated. — Stella Provelengiou.
What’s Next?
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