Smart Farming for Sustainable Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Cost-Effectiveness, Barriers and Enablers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajsard.v1i1.6390Keywords:
Adoption Barriers, Cost-Effectiveness, Smart Farming, Sustainability, Systematic ReviewAbstract
Smart farming has been encouraged as a measure of improving the yield of agricultural produce with less harm to the environment. However, the factual information about its economic performance and implementation is mixed. The review brings together all the world research on the cost-efficiency of smart and climate-smart agriculture and pinpoints the drivers of its adoption and obstacles to it. Articles on English-language studies published in 2010-2025 were searched in various journals and using PRISMA principles, 112 empirical studies have been identified. Data were encoded based on technology type, geographic region, financial performance, sustainability impacts and adoption conditions. The vast majority of publications suggest that climate-sensitive activities, precision agriculture, IoT-based irrigation and digital decision-making, and smart energy system tend to raise profitability, create positive ratios of benefits to costs, and have brief payback. These interventions delivered reductions in water use, decreased input use, and increased resilience of the system as well. But, some capital intensive technologies, especially in marginal regions, were characterized by longer pay-back periods or negative net present values. The obstacles to adoption are high initial costs, limited access to credit, digital skills, insufficient infrastructure, increased risk perception and social inequity. The adoption was better where the farmers had access to subsidies or finance, targeted training, good connection, farmer-based advisory services, and where they were in peer groups. Policies and public investments must lower risk for smallholders and embed proven technologies in inclusive support systems. This is needed in order to ensure that smart farming can play its fair share in sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods across the globe. These results demonstrate the significance of situational variables, structure, and facilitating processes during investment planning.
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