Research hotspots in agricultural finance research: a bibliometric exploration study

Abstract From 2021 to 2025, research growth in agricultural finance demonstrates a vibrant and rising field of study, demonstrating an increasing awareness of the critical role that agriculture plays in global sustainable development. Although the previous studies were conducted on short time periods but due to rapid development in this research area, there is an urgent need to reveal dynamic changes, research gaps, and new hotspots in the literature on agricultural finance with the help of advanced visualisation and network mapping techniques. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric study using the R Studio package’s “Biblioshiny” tool to examine the main trends, contributions of research, and impact on Agricultural finance from 2021 to 2025. The leading affiliations are Sichuan Agricultural University and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The most impactful authors were Chandio, Jiang, and Wang by using the g-index and h-index criteria. Sustainability (Switzerland), Land Use Policy and Agriculture (Switzerland) are the most effective sources of publication in agricultural finance. The result shows that China, India, and the USA are important countries in SCP and MCP. The conceptual analysis suggests crucial research topics such as climate change, food security, climate-smart agriculture.