Agriculture 4.0: A systematic literature review on the paradigm, technologies and benefits

Abstract

Demographics will increase the demand for food and reduce the availability of labour in many countries all over the world. Moreover, scarcity of natural resources, climate change and food waste these are issues that are strongly impacting the agricultural sector and undermining sustainability. Digitalisation is expected to be a driving force in tackling these problems that are characterising agriculture. In particular, the adoption of digital technologies to support processes in the primary sector goes by the name of Agriculture 4.0. Although the number of contributions related to these issues is constantly growing, several areas are still unexplored or not fully addressed. This paper addresses the adoption of digital technologies and investigates the application domain of these technologies, presenting a systematic review of the literature on this subject. Moreover, this research shed light on the technologies adopted and related benefits. Hence, the research has turned its attention to the description of the main pillars, such as the categorisation of its main application domains and enabling technologies. The results of the research show that the different technologies applied in the various fields of application provide benefits both in terms of efficiency (cost reduction, farm productivity) and reduced environmental impact and increased sustainability.