Theoretical foundations of sustainability and their contribution to innovation in the agricultural sector: a bibliometric analysis

Resumen

Objective: to gather knowledge of the behavior and trends of publications on the contributions from the dimensions of sustainability to innovation in the agriculture sector, based on their theoretical foundations.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: a chategorization of scientific papers was obtained through bibliometric analysis. In a first stage, the terms ‘innovation’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘agricultural sector’ were selected as search words. With which 161 papers were selected, all published during the analysis period. Then, information was classified in Excel^® to generate bibliometric indicators in a second stage.

Results: main agricultural crops, in which innovation research related to sustainability was developed, were maize and beans; followed by rice and coffee. The most studied economic indicators were income, new markets, and production costs. Within the ecological dimension, the most recurrent indicators in research were biofertilization, nitrogen supply, carbon, crop rotation, coatings with organic matter, vermiculture, and climate change.

Limitations/ Implications of the study: innovation is continuous, and results can vary if someone takes the articles that will be generated in the coming years. Therefore, our recommendation is to continue with other studies similar to this one, to give continuity and reveals new innovations.

Findings/ Conclusions: about 30% of the works were focused on bacterial inoculation, biofertilizers and biostimulants. The search for soil fertility and its prompt recovery form the largest number of research aimed at technological and mainly biotechnological innovation in the agricultural sector worldwide.