Evolution and Future Prospects of Internet of Things (IoT) Technologies in Paddy Cultivation: A Bibliometric Analysis

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in agriculture has revolutionised traditional farming practises and significantly increased efficiency and productivity. This paper provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the trends and developments in IoT technologies in rice farming research from 2009 to July 2024. Using a dataset from the Scopus database, this study examines publication patterns, major research areas, influential articles, and the distribution of research across different journals and conferences. The results show a remarkable and accelerating growth of IoT-related research, especially in the areas of smart farming, precision agriculture and real-time data analytics. Conference papers dominate the publication landscape, reflecting the rapid advances in the field, while articles and reviews emphasise the growing academic interest and need for synthesis in the literature. The analysis also highlights the most cited papers and emphasises the central role of IoT in areas such as disease detection, water management and smart irrigation. This study provides valuable insights for researchers, policy makers and practitioners and highlights the potential of advanced IoT applications to increase the sustainability and productivity of rice plantations. Future research directions are also discussed, emphasising the need for continued innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in this rapidly evolving field.