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Field · Life Sciences

Agricultural and Biological Sciences research

Agricultural and Biological Sciences is a field of the Life Sciences. Science Explorer counts 5M research works in it since 1950. 20.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: study of plant and animal biology for food, fuel, fiber, and reclamation, including environmental and economic impacts.

Research works
5M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1M
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
235
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+42%
the tick is no change

What is Agricultural and Biological Sciences research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Climate Change, Food Security, Sustainability, Antioxidant Activity, Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity. Gaining share since 2009–13: Functional Food, Agriculture, Fatty Acid Composition, Bioactive Compounds, Crop Production. Losing share: Invasive Species, Biogeography, Global Change, Habitat Fragmentation.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change146k◆ 0.95×22 topics
  2. Food Security109k▲ 1.84×21 topics
  3. Sustainability105k▲ 1.56×22 topics
  4. Antioxidant Activity94k▲ 1.22×14 topics
  5. Sustainable Agriculture74k▲ 1.40×14 topics
  6. Biodiversity72k▼ 0.78×13 topics
  7. Medicinal Plants62k◆ 0.92×10 topics
  8. Agriculture59k▲ 2.2×11 topics
  9. Environmental Impact58k▲ 1.46×12 topics
  10. Soil Fertility57k▲ 1.53×8 topics
  11. Genetic Diversity55k◆ 0.93×12 topics
  12. Food Safety52k▲ 1.19×10 topics
  13. Invasive Species49k▼ 0.64×11 topics
  14. Nutrition48k▲ 1.27×7 topics
  15. Antioxidants47k▲ 1.17×5 topics
  16. Antioxidant44k◆ 0.88×12 topics
  17. Smallholder Farmers43k▲ 1.63×5 topics
  18. Biogeography40k▼ 0.73×13 topics
  19. Conservation39k▼ 0.77×9 topics
  20. Ecosystem Services39k▼ 0.86×5 topics
  21. Rural Development39k▲ 1.31×10 topics
  22. Drought Tolerance38k◆ 1.06×9 topics
  23. Bioactive Compounds37k▲ 1.92×6 topics
  24. Biological Control35k▼ 0.86×9 topics
  25. Oxidative Stress34k◆ 1.15×6 topics
  26. Ecosystem Functioning33k◆ 0.94×4 topics
  27. Gut Microbiota31k◆ 0.91×2 topics
  28. Fatty Acid Composition31k▲ 2.2×2 topics
  29. Economic Analysis31k▲ 1.63×5 topics
  30. Genetics30k◆ 0.94×5 topics
  31. Antimicrobial Activity30k▲ 1.33×3 topics
  32. Essential Oils30k▲ 1.16×2 topics
  33. Consumer Perception29k◆ 0.89×4 topics
  34. Probiotics29k◆ 0.99×2 topics
  35. Global Change28k▼ 0.74×2 topics
  36. Crop Production28k▲ 1.91×4 topics
  37. Aquaculture28k◆ 1.13×4 topics
  38. Functional Food28k▲ 3.5×2 topics
  39. Microbiota27k◆ 1.00×4 topics
  40. Habitat Fragmentation27k▼ 0.74×2 topics

Which countries lead Agricultural and Biological Sciences research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences. By volume, China and Indonesia publish the most (156k and 125k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 37.0% top 10% · 156k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 21.7% top 10% · 82k works
  3. 3 India · #7 all time 14.9% top 10% · 108k works
  4. 4 Brazil · #6 all time 10.8% top 10% · 53k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 28.8% top 10% · 18k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom · #3 all time 27.2% top 10% · 16k works
  7. 7 France · #8 all time 18.0% top 10% · 22k works
  8. 8 Australia · #5 all time 30.5% top 10% · 12k works
  9. 9 Italy · #11 all time 30.6% top 10% · 17k works
  10. 10 Indonesia · #16 all time 3.3% top 10% · 125k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 126 countries ranked in Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Agricultural and Biological Sciences

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 156k works
  2. 2 Indonesia 125k works
  3. 3 India 108k works
  4. 4 United States 82k works
  5. 5 Brazil 53k works
  6. 6 Russia 31k works
  7. 7 Türkiye 24k works
  8. 8 France 22k works
  9. 9 Germany 18k works
  10. 10 Italy 17k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 24.6%Indonesia: 19.7%India: 17.0%United States: 12.9%6 others listed: 25.9%25%largest
China156k · 24.6%Indonesia125k · 19.7%India108k · 17.0%United States82k · 12.9%6 others listed164k · 25.9%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Agricultural and Biological Sciences research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Agricultural and Biological Sciences on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by China Agricultural University and Northwest A&F University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #2 all time 39.4% top 10% · 3k works
  2. 2 China Agricultural University China · Beijing · #7 all time 46.1% top 10% · 3.5k works
  3. 3 Northwest A&F University China · Yangling · #16 all time 50.0% top 10% · 2.6k works
  4. 4 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China · Beijing · #69 all time 44.3% top 10% · 3.3k works
  5. 5 Wageningen University & Research Netherlands · Wageningen · #1 all time 40.9% top 10% · 2k works
  6. 6 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #24 all time 43.2% top 10% · 1.5k works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences China · Beijing · #36 all time 42.7% top 10% · 2.6k works
  8. 8 Northeast Agricultural University China · Harbin · #58 all time 50.1% top 10% · 1.8k works
  9. 9 Nanjing Agricultural University China · Nanjing · #28 all time 44.0% top 10% · 2.8k works
  10. 10 Huazhong Agricultural University China · Wuhan · #27 all time 45.6% top 10% · 2.1k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 3,409 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Agricultural and Biological Sciences.

Top 100 Agricultural and Biological Sciences institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 IPB UniversityIndonesia 3.9k works
  2. 2 China Agricultural UniversityChina 3.5k works
  3. 3 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural AffairsChina 3.3k works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 3k works
  5. 5 Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityIndia 3k works
  6. 6 Nanjing Agricultural UniversityChina 2.8k works
  7. 7 University of BrawijayaIndonesia 2.7k works
  8. 8 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 2.6k works
  9. 9 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 2.6k works
  10. 10 University of MataramIndonesia 2.6k works

Who are the leading researchers in Agricultural and Biological Sciences?

Among the most productive authors in Agricultural and Biological Sciences, C. A. Edwards, Jozef Deckers and Peter B. Reich rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 C. A. Edwards United States · #262 worldwide 4.6k citations · 190 works
  2. 2 Jozef Deckers Belgium · #849 worldwide 2.8k citations · 132 works
  3. 3 Peter B. Reich United States · #1,283 worldwide 4.1k citations · 157 works
  4. 4 Daniel Simberloff United States · #1,360 worldwide 2.9k citations · 130 works
  5. 5 Alberto Mantovani Italy · #1,414 worldwide 3.6k citations · 299 works
  6. 6 Colin Hill Ireland · #1,910 worldwide 2.5k citations · 103 works
  7. 7 Daniel H. Janzen United States · #1,965 worldwide 2.1k citations · 131 works
  8. 8 Keith Paustian United States · #2,115 worldwide 2.5k citations · 101 works
  9. 9 John Hodgson New Zealand · #2,291 worldwide 2.1k citations · 180 works
  10. 10 B. L. Turner United States · #2,627 worldwide 2.1k citations · 206 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,783 highest-output authors in Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Agricultural and Biological Sciences researchers

Where is Agricultural and Biological Sciences research done?

The largest centres of Agricultural and Biological Sciences research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Jakarta (Indonesia), Moscow (Russia) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Lobnya, Gia Lộc and Zhodzina.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 30k works
  2. 2 Jakarta Indonesia 11k works
  3. 3 Moscow Russia 9.1k works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 7.6k works
  5. 5 New Delhi India 7.4k works
  6. 6 São Paulo Brazil 7.3k works
  7. 7 Paris France 7.2k works
  8. 8 Guangzhou China 6.4k works
  9. 9 Surabaya Indonesia 6.1k works
  10. 10 Bandung Indonesia 6.1k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. LobnyaRU · 187.0 works18×
  2. Gia LộcVN · 246.8 works17×
  3. ZhodzinaBY · 59.2 works17×
  4. JobnerIN · 231.6 works16×
  5. KhedIN · 69.1 works16×
  6. Bikaner29.5 works16×
  7. MarlboroughGB · 44.8 works16×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Agricultural and Biological Sciences than the world average.

See Agricultural and Biological Sciences on the map

Agricultural and Biological Sciences research by country

The best places for Agricultural and Biological Sciences research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Agricultural and Biological Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, Northwest A&F University, China Agricultural University and Nanjing Agricultural University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 35.23%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Northwest A&F University: 2,625, 50.0%China Agricultural University: 3,510, 46.1%Nanjing Agricultural University: 2,771, 44.0%Huazhong Agricultural University: 2,053, 45.6%Northeast Agricultural University: 1,800, 50.1%Tamil Nadu Agricultural University: 2,957, 9.7%Gansu Agricultural University: 1,361, 42.8%Wageningen University & Research: 2,035, 40.9%Punjab Agricultural University: 2,017, 14.1%Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research: 1,786, 9.0%Northwest A&F Univer…China Agricultural U…Huazhong Agricultura…Nanjing Agricultural…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 67.750.0%6.8×2,625 +15.9%
2 China Agricultural UniversityChina 65.446.1%6.5×3,510 -10.8%
3 Nanjing Agricultural UniversityChina 64.544.0%7.3×2,771 -5.4%
4 Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 60.445.6%6.2×2,053 -1.5%
5 Northeast Agricultural UniversityChina 60.350.1%7.0×1,800 -40.6%
6 Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityIndia 59.89.7%13.4×2,957 +139.1%
7 Gansu Agricultural UniversityChina 59.442.8%9.4×1,361 -49.5%
8 Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 59.240.9%5.7×2,035 +3.1%
9 Punjab Agricultural UniversityIndia 59.114.1%12.7×2,017 +140.5%
10 Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural ResearchEthiopia 58.89.0%15.3×1,786 +405.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Agricultural and Biological Sciences research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 42% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Food and Agricultural Sciences, Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity and Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Food and Agricultural Sciences+1607%
  2. Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity+168%
  3. Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity+107%
  4. Agriculture and Rural Development Research+106%
  5. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics+87%
  6. Probiotics and Fermented Foods+86%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Agricultural and Biological Sciences include?

Plant and animal studies123kPlant and animal studies: 123k fractional worksInsect and Pesticide Res…79kInsect and Pesticide Research: 79k fractional worksAnimal Nutrition and Physiology: 76k fractional worksMeat and Animal Product Quality: 75k fractional worksAquaculture Nutrition and Growth: 65k fractional worksInsect-Plant Interactions and Control: 64k fractional worksSoil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics: 61k fractional worksEssential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity: 59k fractional worksProbiotics and Fermented Foods: 55k fractional worksBotany and Plant Ecology Studies: 51k fractional worksAnimal Behavior and Reproduction: 51k fractional worksPlant Virus Research Studies: 50k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.