Farmers’ Digital Participation in Agriculture: A Global Bibliometric Study and Implications for Agri-Marketing
Copyright © 2026 Yuxin Liu, Bing Zhu, Zhuoran Zhang. Published by Nan Yang Academy of Sciences Pte. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.
Abstract
As a major driver of economic growth in recent years, e-commerce has spurred farmers’ interest in participating in digital market-oriented agricultural systems more than ever, resulting in a profound impact on societal and economic development. Under this context, the inclusion of farmers in contemporary e-commerce practice deserves investigation. For this reason, this study attempts to provide up-to-date insights into farmers’ digital participation in agricultural practices. For this purpose, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using CiteSpace. The data were extracted from Web of Science between 2005 and 2025, and 499 publications were ultimately included in the analysis of co-citation networks, keyword co-occurrence, and burst detection. The results identified influential authors and their corresponding works, six major clusters, and four stages of farmers’ digital participation. The findings further show a clear shift from a technology-oriented focus to a greater emphasis on market engagement, platform ecosystems, and institutional governance. In particular, recent research shows the growing importance of digital skills, social capital, and policy support in directing farmers’ participation in digital markets. Based on the results, this study has important implications for agri-marketing strategies and policy development, suggesting that improving farmers’ digital capabilities, enhancing platform accessibility, and strengthening institutional support are necessary to promote broader digital participation. This study benefits not only academicians but also business practitioners and policy-makers.
Keywords: Farmers’ Digital Participation, Agri-Marketing, Rural E-Commerce, Bibliometric Analysis
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