E-governance paradigm in the Indian agricultural sector

Abstract Background Fundamentally, there are several levels of complexities associated with the digitalization of the agriculture sector. In the context of the Indian agricultural sector, the contemporary efforts towards E-Governance are helping a progressive digitization process to be realized through the comprehensive National E-governance Plan for Agriculture (NeGP-A), one of the Indian government's Multimodal Projects (MMPs). The cornerstone of the recent digital push in agriculture through the India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA) framework is Digital AgriStack, an amalgamation of digital technologies and databases concentrating on farmers and the agricultural industry. Purpose Intriguingly, there is just a handful of explorative research to gain in-depth ideas on administrative efforts regarding E-governance activities in the Indian agricultural sector. Hence, a stringent effort has been made to cover all facets of E-government in Indian agriculture, beginning with its inception, advancement, and present status as well as a synergy between the center and the states across the domains of G2G, G2F, G2B, and B2F, for the first time. Findings The review presents a comprehensive list of the E-governance initiatives categorized across the four domains of governance and draws a clear picture of the Indian state of e-governance in agriculture while presenting the advancements and challenges at a global and local scale. Originality To the best of our knowledge, no such rigorous attempt has previously been made to analyze and comprehensively present as well as categorize the Indian E-governance facets in the agricultural sector. This will certainly add to the emerging knowledge in the respective E-gov agricultural domains and their applications in developing nations across the globe.