A Systematic Review of Global Prospectives on Digital Agriculture and the Startup Ecosystem
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66132/ngas020105Keywords:
Agricultural sustainability, Digital platforms, Entrepreneurial intermediation, Innovation ecosystems, Precision farming, Technology adoptionAbstract
Digital agriculture has shifted its focus on the limited scope of precision tools to the greater shift in agricultural production, advisory services, logistics, traceability, and governance. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial activities and start-ups have become significant anecdotes that can transform digital technologies into products, platforms, and services that provide a commercial business. Nevertheless, the existing body of literature connecting digital agriculture and start-up ecosystem is scattered across the body of technological literature, innovation studies, rural sociology, and agri-food management. This review paper is a synthesis of the recent peer-reviewed evidence on that intersection. With Scopus, the search query or query 1 was Digital agriculture AND Start-up and 76 records were obtained; query 2 was 2021-2026 and the document type was Journal article; query 3 was 23 studies were obtained and finally qualified as the final results. The qualitative thematic synthesis of included records was done based on titles, abstracts, and key-word fields followed by a PRISMA-based review design. The reviewed literature is summarized in five themes conceptual framings of digitalisation in agriculture; start-up-led innovation and entrepreneurial intermediation; digital technologies and precision systems; ecosystem support mechanisms and governance; and sustainability, adoption, and socio-economic consequences. Through all these themes, it is indicated that start-ups are the focus of experimentation, commercialization and reconfiguring value chains, yet their success is determined by institutional coordination, financial accessibility, platform governance, digital literacy, and alignment of technological solutions with the reality of farming. It is a rapidly growing field that is nonetheless still heterogeneous and uneven with a lack of comparative work and integration of agronomic, entrepreneurial, and policy views.
References
Abioye, D. O., Popoola, O., Akande, A., Fadare, D. A., Omitoyin, S. A., Yinusa, B., & Kolade, O. O. (2024). Farmers’ willingness to adopt digital application tools in Ogun State, Nigeria. Journal of Strategy and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSMA-06-2023-0135
Bambini, M. D., Silva, V. J., Bolfe, E. L., Luchiari Junior, A., & Casaretto, E. (2025). How do agtechs contribute to the digitalization of agriculture?: Insights from the Techstart Agro Digital acceleration program; [Como as agtechs contribuem para a digitalização da agricultura?: Insights do programa de aceleração Techstart Agro Digital]; [¿Cómo contribuyen las agtechs a la digitalización de la agricultura?: Perspectivas del programa de aceleración Techstart Agro Digital]. Agrociencia Uruguay, 29, Article e1526. https://doi.org/10.31285/AGRO.29.1526
Bhooshan, N., Raman, M. S., Gupta, S., Suyal, G., Singh, A., & Sharma, A. (2024). Revolutionizing agriculture: role of agricultural mechanization and global trends in farming technology. Current Science, 126(10), 1209–1216. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v126/i10/1209-1216
Ding, J., Jia, X., Zhang, W., & Klerkx, L. (2022). The effects of combined digital and human advisory services on reducing nitrogen fertilizer use: lessons from China’s national research programs on low carbon agriculture. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 20(6), 1136–1149. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2022.2057643
Forney, J., & Dwiartama, A. (2023). The project, the everyday, and reflexivity in sociotechnical agri-food assemblages: proposing a conceptual model of digitalisation. Agriculture and Human Values, 40(2), 441–454. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10385-4
Heimstädt, C. (2023a). Making plant pathology algorithmically recognizable. Agriculture and Human Values, 40(3), 865–878. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10419-5
Heimstädt, C. (2023b). The exploratory assetization of a crop protection app. Environmental Science and Policy, 140, 242–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.12.014
Luo, Y., & Pu, L. (2024). UAV Remotely-Powered Underground IoT for Soil Monitoring. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 20(1), 972–983. https://doi.org/10.1109/TII.2023.3272016
Mabaya, E., Mubichi-Kut, F., Babadara, J. B., Kumar, K., Shah, H. M., Jehanzeb, A., Price, M. C., & Maldonado, J. M. (2025). Rural Farmers Hub: balancing social impact and financial sustainability. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 15(4), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-10-2024-0422
Mani, S., Dadhwal, V. K., & Shaijumon, C. S. (2025). Space economy of India, its impact on the rest of the economy. Space Policy, 73, Article 101692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101692
Mendes, J. A. J., Bueno, L. O., Oliveira, A. Y., & Gerolamo, M. C. (2022a). AGRICULTURE STARTUPS (AGTECHS): A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY; [STARTUPS AGRÍCOLAS (AGTECHS): UN ESTUDIO BIBLIOMÉTRICO]; [STARTUPS DA AGRICULTURA (AGTECHS): UM ESTUDO BIBLIOMÉTRICO]. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 7(2), Article e0312. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2022.v7i2.312
Mendes, J. A. J., Carvalho, N. G. P., Mourarias, M. N., Careta, C. B., Zuin, V. G., & Gerolamo, M. C. (2022b). Dimensions of digital transformation in the context of modern agriculture. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 34, 613–637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.09.027
Meng, C. (2026). Leveraging IoT for Migrant Worker Entrepreneurship in Rural Development. International Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Information Systems, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.4018/IJAEIS.400918
Mikhailov, A., Camboim, G. F., Reichert, F. M., & Zawislak, P. A. (2022). The application and benefits of digital technologies for agri-food value chain: Evidence from an emerging country; [Aplicação e benefícios das tecnologias digitais para as cadeias de valor agroalimentares: Evidências de um país emergente]. Revista de Administracao Mackenzie, 23(5), Article eRAMR220114. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-6971/eRAMR220114.en
Nambiyar, S., Natarajan, K., Arumugam, V., Kandasamy, M., & Karuppasamy, S. (2024). Agri-Tech startups transforming vegetable supply chains in Coimbatore. Plant Science Today, 11. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.5775
Nicholson, E. (2023). The Threat and Opportunity of Digital Technology in Agriculture. Journal of Agromedicine, 28(1), 42–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2022.2141409
Ogoudou, C., Adéchian, S. A., Egah, J., Baco, M. N., Assani Seidou, A., Worogo, H. S. S., & Alkoiret, I. T. (2025). Governing digital innovation in livestock systems: institutional gaps and coordination challenges in Benin. Pastoralism, 15, Article 15108. https://doi.org/10.3389/past.2025.15108
Pauschinger, D., & Klauser, F. R. (2022). The introduction of digital technologies into agriculture: Space, materiality and the public–private interacting forms of authority and expertise. Journal of Rural Studies, 91, 217–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.06.015
Sarah, E., Slyvester, O., Chinwe, O., & Faith, A. E. (2025). Precision Agriculture in Nigeria: A Longitudinal Study of Technological Impact on Agricultural Productivity (1990-2023). World Journal of Environmental Biosciences, 14(3), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.51847/3LX9Qnn9Xz
Soe, A. C., Wongsaichia, S., Pienwisetkaew, T., Umeh, C., Yaroson, E. V., & Ketkaew, C. (2025). Blockchain-enabled carbon footprint traceability in Thailand's organic food sector: A quintuple helix innovation approach. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 11(4), Article 100656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2025.100656
Srisathan, W. A., Worrakittikul, W., Rattanapon, K., Hongto, T., Phrommasakha Na Sakhonnakon, A., & Naruetharadhol, P. (2025). Digitalisation to zero-waste: the interplay of open eco-innovation and the circular economy in agricultural enterprises. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 18(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2024.2446771
Szalavetz, A. (2023). Agricultural Technology Start-ups – Romania and Hungary Compared. Romanian Journal of European Affairs, 23(1), 34–45.
Umbreen, J., Abbas, S., Mirza, M. Z., Naseem, A., & Ahmad, Y. (2025). Exploring the Determinants of Sustainable Digital Startups in a Developing Country: A Qualitative Analysis. IEEE Access, 13, 166569–166580. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3606537
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nibedita Mishra, Mr. Chinmaya Nanda, Sutej Raghavendra Kulkarni
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
