Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 25 ISSUE 3
Written by Valeriu Cristian BRATU, Valentina Constanta TUDOR, Marius Mihai MICU, Liviu MARCUTA, Miruna Daciana CIUBUC (ION), Alina MARCUTA

In this article, we have analyzed how innovation in agriculture is reflected and articulated in the international scientific literature, with a special focus on the role of associative forms, such as cooperatives and producer groups. The main goal was to understand how types of agricultural innovation are defined and disseminated and to what extent they are influenced or facilitated by collective farmer organizational structures. The approach was guided by two objectives: identifying the main types of innovation applied in agriculture and carrying out a bibliometric analysis that would highlight the structure and dynamics of scientific knowledge in this field. The methodology was based on querying the Scopus database, using relevant terms such as agricultural innovation, farmer associations and economic performance. The data obtained were processed using VOSviewer, to generate thematic maps that analyze networks of co-citation, keyword co-occurrence, international collaboration and bibliographic coupling. The results obtained show that, although the topic of agricultural innovation is intensively treated, the relationship with associative forms remains peripheral in the specialized literature. The bibliometric networks show a pronounced conceptual fragmentation, with thematic clusters evolving in isolation, some focused on technology and adoption, others on rural development or sustainability, without a coherent integration of the organizational dimension. In addition, the lack of common theoretical sources and insufficient standardization of terminology affect the coherence of the scientific field and its capacity to produce transferable explanatory models. The general conclusion emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary and integrative approaches, which more clearly connect technological innovation with social and institutional processes in agriculture. It is also recommended to valorize associative forms as active vectors of innovation, not just as an organizational background, in order to advance towards a more complete understanding of the transformations in contemporary agriculture.

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