Muhammad Khizar Hayat 1,2, Huzaifa Ijaz 2, Sana Jamali 3, Saad Zafar 4, Zia Ullah Ashraf 5, Sadid Shahriyar 6, Rahime Cengiz 1*, Mehmet Öten 1*, Akhi Akter 7 and Md. Nahid Mahmud 8
1Sakarya University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, 54580, Sakarya, Türkiye; 2Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, 38040, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 3Department of Environmental Engineering, Institute of Sciences, Sakarya University, 54050, Sakarya, Türkiye; 4Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Atatürk University, Erzurum 25240, Türkiye; 5Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar, Xinjiang, 843300, P. R. China; 6Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, 1207, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 7Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, 1207, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 8College of Agricultural Sciences, IUBAT- International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka 1230, Bangladesh
*Corresponding author: rahimecengiz@subu.edu.tr (RC); mehmetoten@subu.edu.tr (MÖ)
Maize (Zea mays L.) plays a critical role in global food, feed, and biofuel security; however, its productivity is increasingly threatened by drought stress, climate change, and freshwater scarcity. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive bibliometric and scientific assessment of global research trends on drought stress in maize from 1984 to 2026 and to identify major physiological, molecular, and technological strategies to improve drought resilience. Bibliometric data were collected from the Web of Science Core Collection using drought- and maize-related keywords. A total of 2860 publications were identified, from which 853 highly relevant papers for maize were selected for detailed analysis. The datasets were analyzed using VOSviewer to evaluate publication trends, keyword co-occurrence, institutional collaboration, country networks, journals, and publisher contributions. The results revealed a substantial increase in research output after 2019, with the highest annual number of publications recorded in 2024. China, the United States, and Germany emerged as the leading contributors in both publication productivity and citation impact. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, CGIAR System Organization, China Agricultural University, and CIMMYT were identified as major research institutions driving innovation in maize drought studies. Among journals, Agronomy Basel, Frontiers in Plant Science, Plants Basel, and Environmental Research Letters were the most productive publication sources, while publishers such as MDPI, Springer Nature, Wiley, Frontiers Media, and Elsevier dominated scientific dissemination in this field. The keyword analysis revealed a strong research focus on drought tolerance, root system architecture, photosynthetic stability, abscisic acid signaling, transcription factor engineering, and climate-smart agriculture. The emerging transformative tools identified for future maize improvement included CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, speed breeding, GeoAI-driven precision agriculture, and microbiome engineering. In summary, this study highlights the transition of maize drought research toward multidisciplinary, technology-driven, and globally collaborative efforts to sustain maize productivity and food security amid increasing climatic uncertainties.