# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/rice-cultivation-and-yield-improvement/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement research in the Class of 2026?

Nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen uptake dominated top rice cultivation research, accompanied by sustainable irrigation practices. The most significant shifts were the emergence of source-sink relationships and synthetic aperture radar, alongside a major increase in photosynthetic rate optimization and organic fertilizer studies.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 6,314 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Nitrogen use efficiency, Nitrogen uptake, Alternate wetting and drying (AWD), Organic fertilizers, Source-sink relationships |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 27–122 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved June 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Engineering source-sink relations by prime editing confers heat-stress resilience in tomato and rice | Huanchang Lou, Shujia Li, Zihang Shi, Yupan Zou, Yueqin Zhang, Xiaozhen Huang, Dandan Yang, Yongfang Yang, Zuoyao Li, Cao Xu | Xu Cao | Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Cell | 122 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.11.005 |
| 2 | Crop traits and production under drought | Vincent Vadez, Alexandre Grondin, Karine Chenu, Amelia Henry, Laurent Laplaze, Émilie Millet, Andrea Carminati | Vincent Vadez | CERAAS, Senegal | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment | 98 | 10.1038/s43017-023-00514-w |
| 3 | Effects of Alternate Wetting and Drying Irrigation on Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Rice Fields: A Meta‐Analysis | Chenxi Zhao, Rangjian Qiu, Tao Zhang, Yufeng Luo, Evgenios Agathokleous | Rangjian Qiu | Wuhan University, China | Global Change Biology | 56 | 10.1111/gcb.17581 |
| 4 | Improved alternate wetting and drying irrigation increases global water productivity | Yan Bo, Xuhui Wang, Kees Jan van Groenigen, Bruce A Linquist, Christoph Müller, Tao Li, Jianchang Yang, Jonas Jägermeyr, Yue Qin, Feng Zhou | Xuhui Wang, Feng Zhou | Peking University, China | Nature Food | 56 | 10.1038/s43016-024-01081-z |
| 5 | Enhancing rice panicle branching and grain yield through tissue-specific brassinosteroid inhibition | Xiaoxing Zhang, Wenjing Meng, Dapu Liu, Dezhuo Pan, Yanzhao Yang, Zhuo Chen, Xiaoding Ma, Wenchao Yin, Mei Niu, Nana Dong, Jihong Liu, Weifeng Shen, Yuqin Liu, Zefu Lu, Chengcai Chu, Qian Qian, Mingfu Zhao, Hongning Tong | Xiaoxing Zhang, Wenjing Meng, Dapu Liu, Dezhuo Pan, Qian Qian, M. G. Zhao, Hongning Tong | Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China | Science | 51 | 10.1126/science.adk8838 |
| 6 | <scp>CRISPR</scp>/Cas knockout of the <scp>NADPH</scp> oxidase gene <scp><i>OsRbohB</i></scp> reduces <scp>ROS</scp> overaccumulation and enhances heat stress tolerance in rice | Xiaolong Liu, Ping Ji, Jingpeng Liao, Ximiao Duan, Zhiyang Luo, Xin Yu, Chang-Jie Jiang, Chen Xu, Hongtao Yang, Bo Peng, Kai Jiang | Xiaolong Liu | Yichun University, China | Plant Biotechnology Journal | 51 | 10.1111/pbi.14500 |
| 7 | Strategies for crop straw management in China's major grain regions: Yield-driven conditions and factors influencing the effectiveness of straw return | Jia Cheng, Bai‐Jian Lin, Jinsai Chen, Hong-Xuan Duan, Yuanfeng Sun, Xin Zhao, Yash P. Dang, Zhiyu Xu, Hai‐Lin Zhang | Zhiyu Xu, Hai‐Lin Zhang | China Agricultural University, China | Resources Conservation and Recycling | 46 | 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107941 |
| 8 | Sugar transporter modulates nitrogen-determined tillering and yield formation in rice | Jinfei Zhang, Yuyi Zhang, Jingguang Chen, Mengfan Xu, Xinyu Guan, Cui Wu, Shunan Zhang, Hongye Qu, Jinfang Chu, Yifeng Xu, Mian Gu, Ying Liu, Guohua Xu | Ying Liu, Guohua Xu | Nanjing Agricultural University, China | Nature Communications | 45 | 10.1038/s41467-024-53651-1 |
| 9 | The OsNAC41-RoLe1-OsAGAP module promotes root development and drought resistance in upland rice | Shichen Han, Yulong Wang, Yingxiu Li, Rui Zhu, Yunsong Gu, Jin Li, Haifeng Guo, Wei Ye, Hafiz Ghualm Nabi, Tao Yang, Yanming Wang, Pengli Liu, Junzhi Duan, Xingming Sun, Zhanying Zhang, Hongliang Zhang, Zichao Li, Jinjie Li | Shichen Han | China Agricultural University, China | Molecular Plant | 43 | 10.1016/j.molp.2024.09.002 |
| 10 | ABA-mediated regulation of rice grain quality and seed dormancy via the NF-YB1-SLRL2-bHLH144 Module | Jin-Dong Wang, Jing Wang, Li-Chun Huang, Li-Jun Kan, Chu-Xin Wang, Min Xiong, Peng Zhou, Li-Hui Zhou, Chen Chen, Dong-Sheng Zhao, Xiao-Lei Fan, Chang-Quan Zhang, Yong Zhou, Lin Zhang, Qiao-Quan Liu, Qian-Feng Li | Qiaoquan Liu, Qianfeng Li | Yangzhou University, China | Nature Communications | 37 | 10.1038/s41467-024-48760-w |
| 11 | Effect of Soil Texture on Soil Nutrient Status and Rice Nutrient Absorption in Paddy Soils | Chang Ye, Guangjie Zheng, Yi Tao, Yanan Xu, Guang Chu, Chunmei Xu, Song Chen, Yuanhui Liu, Xiufu Zhang, Danying Wang | Danying Wang | China National Rice Research Institute, China | Agronomy | 36 | 10.3390/agronomy14061339 |
| 12 | The miR172a–SNB module orchestrates both induced and adult-plant resistance to multiple diseases via MYB30-mediated lignin accumulation in rice | He Wang, Zhe-Xu Wang, Hong-Yuan Tian, Yu-Long Zeng, Hao Xue, Wan-Ting Mao, Lu-Yue Zhang, Jun-Ni Chen, Xiang Lu, Yong Zhu, Guo-Bang Li, Zhi-Xue Zhao, Ji-Wei Zhang, Yan-Yan Huang, Jing Fan, Pei-Zhou Xu, Xiao-Qiong Chen, Wei-Tao Li, Xian-Jun Wu, Wen-Ming Wang, Yan Li | Wenming Wang, Yan Li | Sichuan Agricultural University, China | Molecular Plant | 35 | 10.1016/j.molp.2024.11.015 |
| 13 | The elite haplotype OsGATA8-H coordinates nitrogen uptake and productive tiller formation in rice | Wei Wu, Xiaoou Dong, Gaoming Chen, Zhixi Lin, Wenchao Chi, Weijie Tang, Jun Yu, Saisai Wang, Xingzhou Jiang, Xiaolan Liu, Yujun Wu, Chunyuan Wang, Xinran Cheng, Wei Zhang, Wei Xuan, William Terzaghi, Pamela C Ronald, Haiyang Wang, Chunming Wang, Jianmin Wan | Chunyuan Wang, Chunming Wang, Jianmin Wan | Nanjing Agricultural University, China | Nature Genetics | 34 | 10.1038/s41588-024-01795-7 |
| 14 | Effects of Salt Stress on Physiological and Agronomic Traits of Rice Genotypes with Contrasting Salt Tolerance | Yunming Xu, Weicheng Bu, Yuchao Xu, Han Fei, Yiming Zhu, Irshad Ahmad, Nimir Eltyb Ahmed Nimir, Guisheng Zhou, Guanglong Zhu | Guanglong Zhu | Yangzhou University, China | Plants | 29 | 10.3390/plants13081157 |
| 15 | The measurement of agricultural disaster vulnerability in China and implications for land-supported agricultural resilience building | Yuheng Li, Guangya Gao, Jiuyao Wen, Ning Zhao, Guoming Du, Monika Stanny | Yuheng Li | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Land Use Policy | 29 | 10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107400 |
| 16 | Ensuring China's food security in a geographical shift of its grain production: Driving factors, threats, and solutions | Shi Xue, Zhou Fang, Carena J. van Riper, Wei He, Xuxia Li, Fan Zhang, Ting Wang, Changgao Cheng, Qin Zhou, Zhongde Huang, Yang Bai | Zhou Fang | The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States | Resources Conservation and Recycling | 28 | 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107845 |
| 17 | Pathways to identify and reduce uncertainties in agricultural climate impact assessments | Bin Wang, Jonas Jägermeyr, Garry J. O’Leary, Daniel Wallach, Alex C. Ruane, Puyu Feng, Linchao Li, De Li Liu, Cathy Waters, Qiang Yu, Senthold Asseng, Cynthia Rosenzweig | Bin Wang | Charles Sturt University, Australia | Nature Food | 28 | 10.1038/s43016-024-01014-w |
| 18 | Subfield-level crop yield mapping without ground truth data: A scale transfer framework | Yuchi Ma, Sang-Zi Liang, D. Brenton Myers, Anu Swatantran, David B. Lobell | Yuchi Ma, David B. Lobell | Stanford University, United States | Remote Sensing of Environment | 28 | 10.1016/j.rse.2024.114427 |
| 19 | Impact of irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticide management practices on groundwater and soil health in the rice–wheat cropping system—a comparison of conventional, resource conservation technologies and conservation agriculture | Shailendra Singh Shah, Jos van Dam, Awtar Singh, Suresh Kumar, Satyendra Kumar, Devendra Singh Bundela, Coen Ritsema | Shailendra Singh Shah | Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands | Environmental Science and Pollution Research | 28 | 10.1007/s11356-024-35661-0 |
| 20 | Intensifying rice production to reduce imports and land conversion in Africa | Shen Yuan, Kazuki Saito, Pepijn A J van Oort, Martin K van Ittersum, Shaobing Peng, Patricio Grassini | Shaobing Peng, Patricio Grassini | Huazhong Agricultural University, China | Nature Communications | 27 | 10.1038/s41467-024-44950-8 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 in Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement is heavily characterized by precision nutrient management, physiological optimization, and sustainable water practices. Nitrogen use efficiency stands out as the most predominant focus area, appearing in 12% of top-ranked research papers, closely paired with nitrogen uptake studies (8%) to maximize yield while minimizing environmental leaching. Water management techniques, particularly alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and continuous flooding, remain central to production strategies (each representing 6% of top papers), addressing the dual challenges of water scarcity and greenhouse gas mitigation. Furthermore, physiological mechanisms such as source-sink relationships (6%), photosynthetic rate optimization (6%), and organic fertilizer incorporation (6%) represent key avenues for boosting yield potential. Remote sensing technologies, including synthetic aperture radar (6%), also play an increasingly vital role in crop monitoring and yield prediction. Together, these topics reflect a paradigm shift toward integrated agronomy combining molecular/physiological precision with climate-resilient field management.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026 reveals a distinct reorientation toward physiological source-sink dynamics and advanced monitoring technologies. Most notably, research on source-sink relationships and synthetic aperture radar emerged rapidly from near absence to being featured in 6% of top papers. Nitrogen uptake studies underwent a four-fold surge, increasing from 2% to 8% representation, alongside a three-fold rise in studies evaluating organic fertilizers and photosynthetic rates (climbing from 2% to 6% each). Nitrogen use efficiency also doubled its footprint from 6% to 12%. Conversely, traditional soil-focused baselines experienced noticeable declines: soil organic carbon representation dropped from 12% to 4%, while methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions fell by 50% and 33% respectively. These shifts highlight how high-impact rice research is transitioning from passive observation of environmental emissions and baseline soil carbon toward active genetic, physiological, and technological interventions designed to drive yield resilience.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/rice-cultivation-and-yield-improvement/2026. Accessed 2026-07-24.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```