A Scientometric Analysis of Worldwide Intercropping Research Based on Web of Science Database between 1992 and 2020

Wen Lv, Xining Zhao, Pute Wu, Jialong Lv and Hailong He
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Wen Lv: Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Xining Zhao: Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Pute Wu: Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Jialong Lv: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Hailong He: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Intercropping has been practiced worldwide in both traditional and sustainable agriculture to feed the growing population. This study aims to analyze the research status and evolution of intercropping, to identify the influential authors, research centers, and articles, and to reveal the main research topics between 1992 and 2020 based on the Web of Science Core Collection database. The results show that the volume of publications in this field has increased rapidly over the past three decades. The analysis identifies the top three authors (i.e., Meine Van Noordwijk, Wenyu Yang, and Teja Tscharntke), top three contributing organizations (i.e., the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the Chinese Academy of Science, and the INRA), and three most productive countries (i.e., the USA, India, and China). Co-occurrence analysis demonstrates that studies on intercropping can be divided into four clusters as centered by keywords of intercropping/maize, biodiversity/conservation, agroforestry, and carbon, respectively. Lal 2004 is the most influential study with the greatest number of citations and Agroforestry Systems is the most utilized journal. Perspectives on future studies were also given. This study helps researchers to clarify the current research status in the field of intercropping and put forward its future research.

Keywords: intercropping; crop mixture; agroforestry; monocropping; bibliometric analysis; research trends; research output; research hotspots (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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