Precision Farming for Sustainable and Efficient Agribusiness in India: A Critical Narrative Review with Descriptive Evidence Synthesis

Abstract

India's agricultural economy faces a distinctive precision-farming problem: the technologies that can measure and manage field variability are advancing rapidly, while the institutional conditions needed to convert technical precision into durable farm and agribusiness value remain uneven. This critical narrative review evaluates precision farming as a decision system rather than a collection of devices, with particular attention to Indian smallholder conditions, resource-use efficiency, farm economics, service delivery and environmental performance. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 14 June 2026 was examined through accessible scholarly indexes, agricultural databases and authoritative Indian institutional sources. The requested descriptive meta-analytical element was implemented as structured comparison of reported effect directions and magnitudes; statistical pooling was not undertaken because interventions, crops, comparators, outcomes and study designs were too heterogeneous for a defensible common effect estimate. The evidence is strongest for scale-compatible practices that translate measurement directly into management, including precision land levelling, sensor- or threshold-guided nitrogen management, drip fertigation and targeted application technologies. These approaches frequently maintain or increase yield while reducing irrigation water or fertiliser requirements, although the magnitude and persistence of benefit are context dependent. By contrast, remote sensing, machine learning and digital advisories have strong diagnostic potential but weaker causal evidence for income or yield gains at scale. Large observational and modelling datasets reveal substantial scope for site-specific management, yet modelled opportunity should not be conflated with realised farmer benefit. India's small and fragmented holdings make capital-intensive ownership models difficult to generalise; custom hiring, farmer collectives and service-based delivery can improve asset utilisation but introduce quality, interoperability and governance requirements. The review concludes that India's most credible pathway is not technology maximalism but frugal, service-enabled precision: reliable measurement, locally calibrated decision rules, affordable execution and independent outcome evaluation. Future research should prioritise multi-season causal trials, whole-farm economics, environmental outcomes, interoperability, data governance and distributional effects across farm sizes, regions and gendered access to services.