Emerging research trends on biochar application in agriculture: A scientometric analysis

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a comprehensive action plan for achieving world prosperity and environmental sustainability. Using biochar, a renewable and low-cost carbonaceous material produced from biomass waste, is an eco-friendly and clean technology to enhance soil health and address the energy crisis in agriculture. Hence, a comprehensive study of scientometric analysis of the use of biochar in agriculture was carried out using scientific literatures. Based on information collected from the Web of Science (WoS) database between 2001 to 2021, this work performed bibliometric visualization analysis using appropriate data sets of keywords to examine the new research trends on the application of biochar in agriculture. The number of scientific research examining the use of biochar in agriculture has significantly increased in recent years. A total of 4194 publications related to the use of biochar in agriculture were identified from the 2001 to 2021. Based on scientific data (WoS), the progress of biochar research was visualized using co-occurring analysis to identify the current scientific research trends, technological impact, and research gaps related to biochar. The scientometric study indicated that among the top 20 nations, the highest publication (44%) on biochar was produced by the People's Republic of China (PRC), followed by the USA (16%) and Australia (7%). Results showed that the majority of scientific research and development on biochar application in agriculture were accelerated after 2010 and the total research output in terms of publications was significantly increased from 42 (2010) to 882 (2021). The People's Republic of China (PRC), the United States, and Australia have published the most of the studies in the field of biochar. This paper aims to provide a thorough overview of scientific developments on the use of biochar in agriculture, notably during the past few years.