Bibliometric Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Literature on Stress Factors Affecting Agricultural Productivity

Abstract

Sustaining agricultural productivity is essential to ensuring food security. Climate change, increasing population and dwindling resources are factors of concern threatening crop productivity. Research across the globe have focused on seeking innovative measures to protect and enhance crop yield. We explored and analyzed peer-reviewed literature to provide an understanding of current and emerging trends in the field. A bibliometric method was followed using the database Scopus. Search queries used to retrieve documents were “Agriculture/crop productivity” and “Plant stress”. The study period was restricted to the last five years, from 2017-2021. The search query found 2207 documents in Scopus under the agriculture and plant stress theme. Increasing growth of publications was observed in successive years. Research activities in this field have the most contributors from Asian countries – China and India followed by the US. The major stresses affecting agricultural productivity being investigated were-Water stress, Temperature stress, Salinity stress. Amongst these, the theme related to water stress/ precipitation/ drought stress was the most investigated. The availability of water has a pivotal role in sustainable agriculture. The use of conservation agricultural practices such as intercropping, no-tillage, and soil mulching has proven to be effective in retaining soil water content and reducing the dependency on irrigation, especially in rainfed areas, thereby assisting in drought mitigation and increasing crop yield. Precision agriculture approach employing satellite data to predict weather and rainfall and early detection of stress signals using hyperspectral reflectance has shown promising results in ensuring sustained productivity. Breeding and transgenic approaches for plants with higher water use efficiency (WUE) and the ability to tolerate water stress are key areas of research being followed throughout the world.