Summary
This article examines farmers’ scepticism toward digital irrigation technologies in Spain, using qualitative research from Andalusia and Catalunya to explore layered forms of mistrust shaping adoption. Rather than treating mistrust as a barrier, it is reconceptualised as a diagnostic lens revealing concerns around epistemic exclusion, ecological disconnect, institutional opacity, technical failures, and weak relational reciprocity.
Distinguishing between general mistrust (broader concerns about digital agriculture) and particular mistrust (based on direct experience), the authors identify five categories—epistemic, ecological, institutional, practical, and relational. These show that scepticism is rooted in informed critique and historical experience, not ignorance.
The findings challenge techno-optimist narratives and highlight the need for co-development, transparency, and systems responsive to ecological and social complexity. Mistrust is framed not as absence of trust, but as a productive force for more accountable and sustainable agricultural innovation.