How Did Research on Conservation Agriculture Evolve over the Years? A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Conservation agriculture has recently been a hot topic of agricultural research and has generated significant global interest. Conservation agriculture has three core principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop rotations. The research on this topic has also witnessed a boom in recent years as the number of peer-reviewed literature on conservation agriculture is rising exponentially. This study critically examines all the peer-reviewed documents published on conservation agriculture from the 1990s to 2021 and indexed in the web of science core database. The search returned 3023 documents, which were then processed in the R-based bibliometric package for annual scientific production trend, source, author, document, citation, keyword analysis, and co-occurrence networking using VOSviewer. Our findings show remarkable growth in conservation agriculture research in recent times, although it witnessed a shortfall in 2021. Notably, 15 core source journals contribute the most to the field, while 8692 researchers have authored or co-authored at least a document on conservation agriculture. While the USA, India, and Australia are front runners in conservation agriculture research, the spread of the topic is worldwide.

Perceptions of Social Responsibility, Resource Integration Ability and Sustainable Development of Family Grain Farms – Evidence from China

“…This paper takes the sustainable development of family grain farms as the dependent variable. Based on questionnaire design, the dependent variable is the composite of five items [31] focused on sustainable development. Item scores are one for positive answers and zero for negative answers.…”

Review of conservation agriculture practices for sustainable farming

“…Food Security and Nutrition: CA can contribute to food security by improving crop yields, reducing post-harvest losses, and enhancing the nutritional quality of crops through better soil nutrient availability [4,5] .…”

“…Advantages of crop rotations in conserving soil fertility a) Increased Soil Fertility: Crop rotations help maintain soil fertility by alternating nutrient demands and reducing the risk of nutrient depletion. Different crops have varying nutrient requirements and rotating them allows the soil to replenish specific nutrients while others are being utilized [5,6,7] . b) Improved Soil Nutrients and Nutrient Uptake Regulation: Crop rotations can enhance soil nutrient availability and uptake regulation.…”

“…b) Improved Soil Nutrients and Nutrient Uptake Regulation: Crop rotations can enhance soil nutrient availability and uptake regulation. For example, leguminous crops like soybeans can fix atmospheric nitrogen, benefiting subsequent crops that require nitrogen for growth [5,7] . c) Enhanced Soil Structure and Health: Diverse crop rotations, including crops with different root structures and growth patterns, can improve soil structure and health.…”

“…c) Enhanced Soil Structure and Health: Diverse crop rotations, including crops with different root structures and growth patterns, can improve soil structure and health. This is because different crops contribute to the formation of soil aggregates and the development of a diverse soil microbiome, which is essential for nutrient cycling and overall soil health [5,7] . d) Weed and Pest Management: Crop rotations can help manage weeds and pests by disrupting their life cycles.…”