Assessing Climate Risks and Digital Readiness for Aiot Driven Smart Farming in Smallholder Agricultural Systems
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The Smallholder farming systems increasingly face climate change-induced vulnerabilities. Climate change poses an urgent challenge due to increased variability from climate change on insufficient resources and low to minimal adaptive capacity. Smart farming powered through (AIoT) Artificial Intelligence of Things technology is a promising pathway to enhance productivity, climate resilience, and sustainability. To successfully implement these technologies, farmers' exposure to climate risk and their digital readiness level are both critical. Thus, this study provides empirical evidence on the interaction of climate risk exposure with the level of digital readiness on farmers' demand readiness to adopt smart farming utilising AIoT technologies; data were gathered from 506 respondents through a structured questionnaire and assessed for relationships through multiple regression analyses. Climate risk variability, digital literacy, availability of institutions that provide support, and farmers' economic capacity had a statistically significant and positive influence on farmers' readiness to adopt smart farming technology utilising AIoT technology; whereas accessibility of infrastructure alone did not have any significant influence. Together, the models created represent 67.4% of the total variance in the demand for smart farming adoption through AIoT technology, demonstrating strong explanatory capability. The findings show that strengthening digital skills and the institutional framework to support digital skills will complement the need to adapt to climate risks as a means to enhance inclusive participation and effective means of adopting AIoT technologies for smallholder farmers through smart agricultural practices.
Authors: Sanjay Kumar Mahto, Binod Kumar
Institution: Jharkhand Rai University
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7130322810
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: