More than two decades of research on IoT in agriculture: A systematic literature review

Agriculture is one sector where the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to make a major impact. Yet, its adoption in the sector falls behind expectations. The purpose of this paper is to present the state-of-the art of IoT in agriculture and investigate its slow adoption in the sector. The authors have undertaken a systematic review and a synthesis of 1355 relevant publications over the last decade. This literature review reveals that the “big three” barriers for the overall sector are cost, skills, and standardization. The lack of connectivity and data governance are two key reasons why most of the proposed IoT solutions are standalone systems of limited scope, while the majority of commercial IoT efforts focus on practices in the protected indoor environment. Lastly, the analysis of past research along the five layers of the IoT system architecture reveals limited attention to barriers and solutions at the business layer, which represents a research opportunity for information systems scholars.