The framework for digital agriculture: EU CAP, e-Devlet, gov.gr and rural digital skills

Digital agriculture is not only about buying sensors or drones. Accessing public farm records, applying for support online, reaching an adviser and keeping your own data in order are all part of the process. This guide sets out the framework for growers in Kozan and Larissa under four headings: the EU policy approach, public digital services in Türkiye and Greece, rural connectivity and skills, and where to start.

Digitalisation in the EU Common Agricultural Policy 2023-2027

The 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) gives digitalisation more weight than earlier periods. Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 requires Member States to draw up digital strategies so that they take a strategic approach to digitalisation in agriculture and rural areas. Digitalisation appears explicitly in two places: the cross-cutting objective of modernising agriculture and rural areas by fostering and sharing knowledge, innovation and digitalisation, and Specific Objective 2 on farm competitiveness. Farm advisory services must also cover digital technologies in agriculture and rural areas (EU CAP Network, 2025).

The backbone of this set-up is the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). AKIS brings together innovation, knowledge exchange, training and advisory services. Its purpose is to turn farmers' needs into research questions and research results into digital tools that work in the field. The operational groups of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) are among its most visible instruments on the ground (EU CAP Network, 2025).

In numbers, Member States designed about 2,500 interventions for 2023-2027. Planned spending under Specific Objective 2, where digitalisation is named explicitly, is 7% of total planned public funds, and 1% under the cross-cutting objective. These amounts also include interventions that are not directly linked to digitalisation. Result indicator R.3 tracks the share of farms benefiting from CAP support for digital farming technology. In addition, the area monitoring system (AMS), built on Copernicus and national Earth observation data, is designed to simplify controls and reduce the administrative burden on farmers (EU CAP Network, 2025).

Türkiye: e-Devlet and ministry information systems

In Türkiye the farmer's public digital gateway is e-Devlet. Through it the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry offers services such as checking and verifying the Farmer Registration System (ÇKS) certificate, applying to renew a ÇKS registration or change the declared crop, looking up cattle and small ruminants by ear tag, and checking raw milk support payments (e-Devlet Gateway, 2026). Since a 2022 ministry change, farmers who only update their crops can apply via e-Devlet, while first-time ÇKS registrations and changes to land data still go to the provincial or district directorate (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2022).

One of the systems running in the background is the Agricultural Monitoring and Information System (TARBİL). It started in 2008 as a three-year pilot. The network of agro-meteorological stations, launched with 25 stations in Şanlıurfa, reached 100 stations in 2012. The system processes satellite images and ground station measurements to produce national crop yield forecasts and to map agricultural land. Under the project 136,060 cadastral sheets were digitised, and work covered modules such as ÇKS integration and control and certification systems for good agricultural practice and organic farming (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, undated).

Greece: gov.gr and the change at the paying agency

Greece's national portal for public services, gov.gr, offered more than 2,100 online services by the end of March 2025 (European Commission, 2025). OPEKEPE (ΟΠΕΚΕΠΕ), the agency that paid out CAP support, was restructured in 2025 and placed under the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (ΑΑΔΕ); the government lists this among the most important legislative initiatives of 2025 (Greek Government, 2026). The practical point for growers in Larissa: information about OPEKEPE's old channels may be out of date. Check the official announcement for each campaign to see which platform and which timetable apply to the annual aid application.

Rural connectivity and digital skills

Digital services only help if farmers can use them. Eurostat's 2025 data show the rural gap clearly. The figures for Türkiye come from the ICT Usage Survey on Households and Individuals carried out by TÜİK, the Turkish Statistical Institute.

The table shows that the real gap is in skills rather than access. More than three in four rural residents in Türkiye use the internet, but only about one in seven has at least basic digital skills (Eurostat, 2026). The EU target for 2030 is that 80% of adults have at least basic digital skills (EU CAP Network, 2025).

Infrastructure is a mixed picture too. In Greece's sparsely populated areas 5G coverage reached 99.3% in 2024, above the EU average of 79.6%, while fibre to the premises (FTTP) covered only 3.3% of the same areas (EU: 58.8%). According to the same report, in 2023 the share of rural Greeks with basic skills was 16.4 points below the national average, against a gap of 8.1 points across the EU (European Commission, 2025). This suggests that devices and apps running over the mobile network are easier to deploy in rural Thessaly than solutions that need a fixed line.

A practical starter list for growers

1. Set up your digital identity. In Türkiye you need an e-Devlet password, a mobile signature or an electronic signature. Check your ÇKS certificate on e-Devlet and make sure the land and crop details are correct.
2. Know the right channel. Crop changes can be filed on e-Devlet; first registration and land changes go to the provincial or district directorate. In Larissa, follow the paying agency's announcements for the current platform for the annual aid application.
3. Check your records online. Livestock records and some support payments can be looked up on e-Devlet. If something does not match, ask for a correction before the application period closes.
4. Link up with an adviser. In the EU, advisory services must cover digital technologies. In Türkiye the provincial or district directorate and your cooperative or producer union are the first points of contact.
5. Close the skills gap. Aim for at least one person on the farm who can comfortably file online applications, download documents and share files; use chamber and cooperative training for this.
6. Test your coverage. If mobile signal is weak in the field, choose tools that store data on site and upload it when a connection is available.
7. Keep your records digital. Well-kept fertiliser, spraying and irrigation records make both official checks and certification easier. Who owns that data and how to protect it is covered in the data ownership guide in this knowledge centre.

Sources

1. EU CAP Network / Avrupa Komisyonu DG AGRI, 2025. Assessing digitalisation under the CAP Strategic Plans (tematik rapor, Kasım 2025) (accessed 29 September 2026)
2. T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı, 2022. Çiftçi Kayıt Sistemi (ÇKS) başvuruları artık e-Devlet'te (haber, 23.09.2022) (accessed 29 September 2026)
3. e-Devlet Kapısı, 2026. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı hizmetleri (accessed 29 September 2026)
4. T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı, tarihsiz. Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri projeleri: Tarımsal İzleme ve Bilgi Sistemi Projesi (TARBİL) (accessed 29 September 2026)
5. Avrupa Komisyonu, 2025. Digital Decade 2025 country reports: Greece, SWD(2025) 294 final, bölüm 12/27 (accessed 29 September 2026)
6. Yunanistan Hükümeti, 2026. Απολογισμός κυβερνητικού έργου για το 2025, Ενοποιημένο Σχέδιο Κυβερνητικής Πολιτικής 2026 (2025 hükümet çalışmaları değerlendirmesi, Ocak 2026) (accessed 29 September 2026)
7. Eurostat, 2026. Individuals' level of digital skills (from 2021 onwards), veri seti isoc_sk_dskl_i21 (Türkiye verisi: TÜİK Hanehalkı BT Kullanım Araştırması) (accessed 29 September 2026)
8. Eurostat, 2026. Individuals - internet use, veri seti isoc_ci_ifp_iu (accessed 29 September 2026)