Nostradamus Survey

This survey is part of the Nostradamus project (Data Cube and Copernicus data for Food Security and European Independence, https://nostradamus-project.eu/), which develops scalable digital applications and decision-support solutions to support sustainable and resilient agriculture and food security in Europe, with a specific focus on cereal-based systems.

The purpose of this survey is to:

Better understand current challenges and decision-making needs related to agrochemical dependence, digitalisation, food security, and agricultural resilience
Collect needs, expectations, and constraints from a wide range of stakeholders across agriculture and food systems

Your answers will be analysed in aggregated and anonymised form and used as input for potential applicants to the Nostradamus Open Calls.

Call #1 (OC1) – Farm Decision Making and agribusiness
Call #2 (OC2) – Digital applications for policy creation and evaluation

These insights will support the design of digital applications developed by third parties, helping to align proposed solutions with stakeholder needs, data requirements, interoperability challenges, barriers, priorities, and usability expectations for farm decision-making and policy support on top of the Nostradamus data infrastructure.

The survey begins with a short Core Part A (respondent context and decision-support needs). Based on your selected role, you will then be routed to one role-based module (Farmers/Producers, Advisors/Cooperatives, Policymakers/Public, Administration/NGOs, or Technology and Data Providers). The survey ends with common concluding questions asked to all respondents.

Confidentiality and responsible answering

The survey does not ask for your name, email, or any directly identifying information.
Responses will be analysed in aggregate only.
Please do not include personal names or confidential business information in any open-ended fields (where applicable)

Time needed: approximately 10 minutes, depending on your role and the section you complete.

This survey is addressed to actors involved in agriculture and food systems, including:

Farmers / primary producers (especially cereal-based systems)
Farm advisors and consultants, including extension services
Cooperatives and producer organisations
Agri-industry and input suppliers (seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, machinery, services
Agri-food companies (processing, storage, logistics, retail)
Technology providers / ICT companies
Data providers (EO, IoT, market data, platforms)
Public authorities and policymakers at local, regional, national, and EU level
Public administration staff working on agriculture, environment, climate, or rural development
NGOs and civil society organisations active in agriculture, environment, climate, food security, or rural communities
Researchers and scientists in agriculture, environment, climate, data science, or related fields
Financial and insurance actors linked to agriculture and rural development
International organisations working on agriculture, climate, environment, or food security

Glossary
To make the survey easier to follow, here are short explanations of key terms used in the questions.

Digital agriculture tools: Any digital solution used in farming, advisory, or policy work, such as mobile apps, online platforms, decision-support tools, dashboards, satellite-based services, or sensor systems.
EO (Earth Observation): Information collected from satellites (and sometimes aircraft/UAVs) used to derive indicators such as crop condition, vegetation stress, soil moisture, or drought risk.
IoT (Internet of Things): Connected sensors and devices (e.g., soil sensors, weather stations, tractor systems) that automatically collect and transmit data.
Real-time / near real-time data: Data updated frequently (minutes to hours) to support rapid decisions under changing conditions.
Dashboard: A single interface that combines indicators, maps, graphs, and alerts to support situational awareness and decision-making.
Indicator: A value or index summarising a condition or risk (e.g., soil moisture level, drought index, crop condition indicator, risk level).
Scenario analysis: “What-if” exploration of possible futures or policy options (e.g., fertiliser prices +20%, drought next season, changes in incentives or regulations).
Benchmarking: Comparing performance across comparable farms, regions, or systems (e.g., yield, water use, soil health, emissions, economic performance).
Cereal-based systems: Farming systems where cereals (wheat, barley, maize, rye, oats, etc.) are a main part of production, sometimes combined with other crops or livestock.
Agroclimatic risk: Risks driven by weather and climate (e.g., drought, heatwaves, frost, heavy rainfall, storms) affecting agricultural outcomes.
Cloud-based tools: Tools where processing and storage occur mainly on remote servers accessed through the internet.
Edge tools / edge computing: Tools that run mainly on local devices (phone/tablet/tractor terminal/field computer), sometimes with offline or low-bandwidth capability.
Hybrid architecture: A combination of cloud and edge computing, where some functions work locally and others rely on remote infrastructure.
Data governance: Rules and practices defining who owns data, how it can be used, who can access it, and how privacy, security, and accountability are ensured.

14% of survey complete.