“Taking farmers' trust issues Seriously”: Mistrust and the digital tech revolution in water management

This article examines farmers' scepticism toward digital irrigation technologies in a Mediterranean irrigation context within Spain, drawing on qualitative research conducted in Andalusia and Catalunya to explore the multiple, layered forms of mistrust that shape technology adoption. Rather than viewing mistrust as a barrier to innovation, we reconceptualise it as a diagnostic lens—one that reveals deep-seated concerns around epistemic exclusion, ecological disconnect, institutional opacity, technical failures, and a lack of relational reciprocity. Drawing on qualitative data and a mistrust-specific framework, we distinguish between general and particular mistrust to provide greater analytical precision. General mistrust reflects broader concerns about the values and assumptions embedded in digital agriculture, while particular mistrust emerges from direct experiences with specific tools or companies. We propose five interrelated categories—epistemic, ecological, institutional, practical, and relational mistrust—to explain how farmers’ scepticism is shaped not by ignorance, but by contextually informed critiques and historical experiences. In contrast to notions of “trust” often framed in abstract or moralistic terms, mistrust offers a more grounded and politically attentive approach to understanding how digital technologies intersect with local farming realities. Our findings challenge dominant techno-optimist narratives and underscore the need for co-development, institutional transparency, and systems attuned to ecological and social complexity. Mistrust, we argue, is not simply the absence of trust but a potentially productive force—one that can prompt more accountable, inclusive, and sustainable innovation pathways in agriculture. • Farmer mistrust is framed as a diagnostic tool to explain digital irrigation engagement, rooted in experience, ecology, and power.