Agricultural Horizons: Research, Technology and Sustainable Development Vol. 5

Agricultural extension is increasingly expected to improve productivity while supporting climate adaptation, environmental stewardship and equitable market participation. These objectives are often pursued through separate digital, behavioural, agronomic and economic programmes, although their effects depend on interacting constraints. This critical narrative review examines how these agendas can be integrated without treating technology adoption as an adequate measure of development. Targeted scholarly searches covered literature published from 2000 to 1 August 2026, with emphasis on peer-reviewed experimental studies, comparative analyses and evidence syntheses. Publications were appraised for causal identification, outcome validity, implementation context, distributional effects and transferability. Digital advisory interventions can improve knowledge and selected farming practices, but benefits vary with content, delivery arrangements and complementary resources. Evidence for generative artificial intelligence remains substantially less mature than evidence for established telephone and video services. Behavioural research explains how timing, expectations and social learning influence decisions, yet informed non-adoption may be preferable to uptake of unsuitable products. Climate resilience requires attention to downside losses, recovery and adaptation limits rather than average yields alone. Market information, contracting and producer organisations can expand opportunities, but participation does not necessarily strengthen bargaining power or individual agency. The synthesis develops a decision-centred interpretation of extension as public-interest infrastructure connecting credible information, feasible choices, collective coordination and accountability. Its central implication is that services should be evaluated against the constraints they actually address and the welfare outcomes they can reasonably influence. Immediate research priorities include independent evaluation of artificial intelligence, mechanism-based comparisons of delivery channels, multi-season assessment of resilience portfolios, and measurement of net benefits and harms across social groups. Longer-term progress depends on institutions that preserve farmer choice, finance shared knowledge and maintain credible scrutiny of both public and commercial advisory systems.