SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: A GLOBAL RESEARCH LANDSCAPE BASED ON VOSVIEWER

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture has been the subject of scientific research for several decades related to environmental degradation, food security and the efficient use of Natural Resources. In recent years, the growing role of digital technologies has increased interest in understanding the contribution of digitalization to the development of sustainable agriculture. The purpose of the study is to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric assessment of the global research space in the field of sustainable agriculture from 1974 to 2025, to demonstrate clearly the role of digitalization in strengthening environmental and economic stability. The results of the study show a long-term increase in scientific output throughout the research period, significantly accelerated after 2015 due to increased attention to climate change, the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the spread of quantitative and precision farming technologies. The research space is structured on the basis of interconnected biological, environmental, industrial and technological clusters. The latest research shows that increasing attention is being paid to digital agriculture, precision farming and data-driven decision-making, making a shift towards technologically sound sustainability approaches. The study makes scientific contributions by systematizing fragmentary literature and identifying structural changes in research in the field of sustainable agriculture. From a practical point of view, the results obtained show that digital technologies increase the efficiency of resource use, economic indicators and Climate Resilience of agricultural enterprises. Bibliometric evidence underscores the added value of this study and supports the main hypothesis that digitalization of agricultural enterprises strengthens their sustainable development, which is especially relevant for countries such as Kazakhstan, seeking to modernize the agricultural sector.