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This review considers the role of Big Data (BD), the digital revolution, the application of Internet of Things (loTs) and sensor technologies in the agriculture sector. The introduction is focussed on the ongoing research efforts on BD within agriculture sector, basic features of BD and latest development in BD analytics tools. In subsequent sections, the importance of BD applications in the agriculture sector and examples of their success stories in increasing farm productivity, current scenario on BD and digital agriculture, the future prospects of BD and bottlenecks in its implementation in agriculture sector are discussed. Agriculture sector is undergoing a new revolution and transformation, driven by IoT, sensor technologies, BD and cloud computing. This digital revolution in agriculture is very promising and will enable the agriculture sector to move to the next level of farm productivity and profitability. This transformation process looks irreversible and poised to revolutionize not only agriculture but the entire farm-to-food sector.

Globally, ravine landscapes are considered among the world's most degraded ecosystems. Restoring ravines is considered a high priority item in the conservation programmes, and tree establishment augmented with appropriate soil and water conservation measures is the most sought-after restoration strategy. This study examined the impact of terracing and trenching on runoff, soil loss, and soil properties along with Sapota (Achras zapota) growth, fruit yield, biomass and carbon stock during 6 years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) in a degraded ravine land of Western India. The four soil and water conservation strategies tested were (1) bench terracing + Sapota (Bt),(2) bench terracing + Sapota with crop cultivation (BtCr), (3) continuous slope + Sapota (Sl), and (4) continuous slope + Sapota with trenches (SlTr). All conservation techniques increased Sapota height (Bt: 54%; BtCr: 27%; SlTr: 35%) and basal diameter (Bt: 36%; BtCr: 18%; StCr: 22%) compared to Sl. Biomass and carbon stock of Sapota were in the order of Bt > SlTr > BtCr > Sl. During the droughtperiod, fruit yield was highest in Bt followed by BtCr, SlTr, and least in Sl. The treatment SlTr and Bt reduced runoff by 16-34% and soil loss by 15-25%, compared to Sl. The growth and biomass were strongly correlated with soil loss. The findings suggested that bench terracing is the best soil and water conservation measure for restoring highly degraded ravines of Western India. Under circumstances where terracing is not feasible, trenching could be a significant step along with Sapota plantation to restore these ravines.

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