Open Access

REVIEW

Harvesting Tomorrow: Empowering Smart Agriculture through Digital Twin Technology

Navod Neranjan Thilakarathne^1,*, Madhuka Priyashan Wedisinhage Don², Sharmi Malisha Dilshani³, Jamil Abedalrahim Jamil Alsayaydeh^4,*, Mohd Faizal Bin Yusof⁵, Rostam Affendi Bin Hamzah⁴

1 Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
2 Construct Innovate and MaREI Centre for Energy, Ryan Institute, School of Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
3 Department of IT, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
4 Department of Engineering Technology, Fakulti Teknologi Dan Kejuruteraan Elektronik Dan Komputer (FTKEK), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Melaka, Malaysia
5 General Education and Foundation Program, Faculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, 65 Al Inshirah Street, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

* Corresponding Authors: Navod Neranjan Thilakarathne. Email: ; Jamil Abedalrahim Jamil Alsayaydeh. Email:

Computers, Materials & Continua 2026, 89(2), 3 https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2026.082189

Received 12 March 2026; Accepted 01 June 2026; Issue published 15 September 2026

Abstract

With the growing world population and demand for agricultural goods, agriculture requires innovative technologies that make the best use of resource, reduce waste, and increase productivity. So, smart agriculture, which involves the use of innovative digital technologies to enhance the quality and quantity of harvests, has come into play, superseding traditional agriculture. In recent years, the concept of the digital twin has intertwined with smart agriculture to enable precise control of entire farms, facilitating virtual replications. Overall, the digital twin enables continuous monitoring of real-time conditions in the field, providing valuable insights into crop health, resource utilization, and environmental factors, making it the next revolution in smart agriculture. The integration of digital twin-enabled precision control mechanisms allows for immediate responses to changing conditions and optimizes agricultural processes. Digital twins are still new to smart agriculture, but their use is growing quickly because of the benefits they offer. Motivated by synthesizing the latest knowledge on how digital twins can be utilized to precisely manage agricultural tasks, this study presents a comprehensive review of digital twins in smart agriculture. It discusses the digital twin ecosystem in smart agriculture, provides a taxonomy of the latest services, provides a conceptual architectural framework for autonomous agricultural digital twin, and highlights the latest challenges in the domain and countermeasures to overcome them. Nonetheless, anticipated future directions are also highlighted, paving the way for future research.

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