Mapping the landscape of APSIM-driven agricultural research: a bibliometric analysis and future perspectives.

Journal: International journal of biometeorology
Published Date:

Abstract

Agricultural research has consistently progressed through the integration of advanced technologies into farming systems. A significant paradigm shift in agricultural production system research has occurred with the development of simulation models, most notably the Agricultural Production System Simulator (APSIM). The APSIM supports a wide range of applications in agriculture, including on-farm decision-making on the basis of historical climatic data and future climatic projections. It also informs policymaking through climate risk assessment, forecast-based management systems, and simulations for diverse crops and cropping systems. These applications offer opportunities for bibliometric analysis, a quantitative method for analyzing trends in academic research and publications to explore the impact, trends, and research gaps in this research domain. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of APSIM-related research publications indexed in the Scopus database. The analysis reveals an exponential growth of APSIM-related research from 1989 to 2023, with 1273 documents published across 118 scholarly journals, indicating the model's increasing relevance in addressing the critical challenges of global agricultural research. Our analyses identify the contributions and collaborative networks among authors, journals, institutions, and countries. It identifies key emerging issues, including climate change adaptation and mitigation, precision agriculture, and advancements in crop modeling, indicating the adaptability of APSIM to modern agricultural challenges. These findings will serve as valuable resources for researchers to facilitate collaboration, innovation, and informed decision-making in addressing the complex demands of 21st century agriculture.

Authors

  • Sukamal Sarkar
    Division of Agronomy, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur Campus, Kolkata, India. sukamalsarkarc@yahoo.com.
  • Saikat Dey
    Department of Human Genetics, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.
  • Anannya Dhar
    Division of Agronomy, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur Campus, Kolkata, India.
  • Apurbo K Chaki
    Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur, 1701, Bangladesh.
  • Rupak Goswami
    Division of Agriculture and Rural Development, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur Campus, Kolkata, India.
  • Donald S Gaydon
    CSIRO Agriculture and Food, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
  • Sourav Garai
    Division of Agronomy, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur Campus, Kolkata, India.
  • Koushik Brahmachari
    Department of Agronomy, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, India.
  • Mohammad Mainuddin
    Water Security Program, CSIRO Environment, Canberra, ACT, Australia.