Socio-technical pathways shaping farmers’ adoption of digital agriculture technologies

Digital agriculture is increasingly recognized as a socio-technical transformation rather than merely a technological shift, yet empirical evidence on how institutional, capability, and market factors jointly shape adoption remains limited. This study develops and tests an integrated socio-technical framework to explain farmers’ adoption of digital technologies in agriculture. Using cross-sectional survey data from 504 farmers in Rajasthan, India, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), we examine the roles of government support, digital literacy, technology access, cost affordability, trust, social influence, market conditions, and production benefits. The findings identify digital literacy as a pivotal capability that strengthens technology access and market participation, while government support enhances digital literacy, affordability, and trust. Technology access and cost affordability directly influence adoption, whereas social influence and trust affect adoption indirectly through perceived production benefits. The model demonstrates moderate-to-high explanatory and predictive power, highlighting the systemic nature of digital adoption in agriculture. The results suggest that expanding digital infrastructure alone is insufficient; successful adoption also requires strengthening farmers’ capabilities, reducing economic barriers, and building institutional trust. This study provides an integrated empirical explanation of socio-technical adoption and offers evidence-based policy insights for advancing inclusive and sustainable digital agriculture in smallholder-dominated, climate-constrained contexts.