Current state of the scientific literature in Italy:   The findings presented here are drawn from a dataset of 400 peer-reviewed journal articles published from 2023 onward in the Italian precision agriculture context. One of the clearest findings from the dataset is that Italian precision agriculture is moving along several strong and well-defined lines of research.   The first major area is remote and proximal sensing. UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, thermal data, vegetation indices and field-scale monitoring appear throughout the literature. This confirms that a large part of Italian research is still focused on monitoring crop conditions and acquiring within-field variability with increasing detail and accuracy.   A second major direction is artificial intelligence and machine learning, which increasingly act as a common layer across many applications. From 2023 to 2025, the literature shows clear growth in classification, forecasting, detection, regression, deep learning and computer vision. This suggests that the field is gradually moving from descriptive analysis toward more operational and decision-oriented uses of AI.    Another key pillar is irrigation, water status and microclimate. Water-related themes are highly recurrent and strategically important in the Italian context, where Mediterranean conditions, increasing climate change pressure and the need for fine-scale risk management make this area especially relevant. Studies on frost and heat-stress forecasting, the optimized placement of microclimate sensor networks and the development of non-invasive sensors for plant water status monitoring all point in the same direction, precision agriculture in Italy is increasingly tied to water efficiency and climate resilience.   The dataset also highlights a clear shift from diagnosis to intervention, especially in the area of input management and variable-rate strategies. Research is not limited to detecting variability, but it is increasingly aimed at guiding fertilization, irrigation, spraying and site-specific agronomic action. This is one of the strongest signals ...more