Geographical analysis
Department of Geography & GIS
Department of Geography & GIS
Geographical analysis
DOI: 10.53989/bu.ga.v14i2.25.7 4
Year: 2025, Volume: 14, Issue: 2, Pages: 78-93
Systematic Review
T Adarsh1*, T S Lancelet2
1Research Scholar, Department of Geography, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Ernakulam,Kerala, India.
2Professor, Department of Geography, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Ernakulam, Kerala,India
*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]
Received Date:13 May 2025, Accepted Date:25 October 2025
This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global research trends in Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) and Agro-Ecological Units (AEU) from 2000 to 2024. AEZ and AEU are foundational frameworks for assessing land suitability, crop productivity, and sustainable agricultural practices. Utilizing data from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, a total of 2,406 documents were analysed after deduplication. The study reveals a steady increase in research output, with the number of publications rising from 18 in 2000 to a peak of 228 in 2021, indicating an annual growth rate of 9.83%. These publications were spread across 928 sources, including journals, books, and conference proceedings, with an average of 17.54 citations per document, reflecting strong academic engagement. A total of 8,434 authors contributed to the literature, with a co-authorship pattern averaging 4.07 authors per document. While 135 documents were single-authored, only 121 unique authors accounted for these, suggesting that collaborative research predominates in this field. International collaboration is notable, with 26.23% of publications involving authors from multiple countries. The study identifies key publication trends, leading authors, prominent institutions, and global collaboration networks. The thematic evolution analysis identifies a clear progression in research focus from organism specific, soil, and crop-level studies to integrated, system-wide approaches highlighting a shift toward yield optimization, sustainability, agro-ecological classification, and emerging emphasis on spatial planning, adaptive capacity, and climate-resilient agricultural strategies. This bibliometric review offers key insights into the evolution of AEZ and AEU research, supporting its use in sustainable land-use planning and agricultural development.
Keywords: Agro-Ecological Zones, Agro-Ecological Units, Bibliometric Analysis, Sustainable Agriculture, Agro Ecology, Research Trends
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© 2025 Adarsh & Lancelet. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Published By Bangalore University, Bengaluru, Karnataka
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