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

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.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the research status and evolution of intercropping over the past three decades, identifying influential authors, organizations, and countries in the field. It also revealed the main research topics centered around keywords such as intercropping/maize, biodiversity/conservation, agroforestry, and carbon. The study provides insights for future research directions in intercropping.