Drones-of-the-Future in Agriculture 5.0 – Automation, integration, and optimisation

Context: The adoption of drones within Agriculture 5.0 is transforming farming into a service-oriented and data-driven system. This study provides a state-of-art review of Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS), evaluating applications across crop monitoring, soil assessment, livestock surveillance, harvest forecasting, and post-harvest logistics. Objective: This review propose a systems-level framework to guide future research, regulation, and deployment of drones within Agriculture 5.0. Methods: The study synthesises datasets from published technical standards, communication protocols, interoperability studies, and agricultural service platforms, complemented by tabulated evidence on drone functions, integration challenges, and regulatory frameworks. Results and conclusions: Analysis of these datasets highlights both the operational advantages of drones, such as precision in resource allocation and enhanced scalability, and the persistent barriers of fragmented standards, high costs, and regulatory constraints, alongside service model aspects of the study. Significance: Unlike existing literature that largely emphasises hardware, this study shifts focus to the service model, identifying how DaaS can democratise drone access for small- and medium-scale farms. The findings reveal knowledge gaps in interoperability, cost–benefit analysis, and policy readiness.