Analysis of the key generic technologies for the utilization of maize stovers based on bibliometrics

This study aims to promote the full-value utilization of corn stover. Data sources were selected as the China Knowledge Infrastructure database and the Web of Science. Visualization software was used to draw knowledge graphs in the field of corn stover use. The current status of research and trends were summarized to analyze the key generic technologies of corn stover use. Two stages were divided in the utilization of corn stoves: 1990-2007 and 2008-2022. In the latter stage, the research system of corn stover use was gradually formed using fertilizer and feed that was supplemented by fuel. A literature review found that the research on corn stover use roughly experienced three phases of hot spot migration, each of which lasted about 10 years. The research was focused mainly on stover returning during the period 1990-2000; The focus of the research was straw returning to the field, straw energy, and feed use during the period 2001-2010; The utilization of corn stover was diversified to gradually form during the period 2011-2022. The utilization of corn stover was achieved mainly in the fields of stover returning and biomass energy production. According to the knowledge graph, the hot directions of corn stover use included biomass energy production, land improvement and protection, animal husbandry development, and feed production. Finally, the knowledge engineering and induction show that there were still some bottlenecks in the technology of corn stover use, such as delayed collection and transportation, low quality of returning, immature technology of stover feed, high cost, and low added value of energy technology. Driven by the important national demand for the utilization of agricultural waste resources, 13 key generic technologies were summarized for the full-value utilization of corn stover, including intelligent control and management of agricultural machinery and equipment, digital agriculture, high-quality field-returning, field-returning under the local conditions, sealed storage, high-yield cellulose strain of screening, selection, and breeding of efficient microbial strains for lignin degradation, strain matching and enzyme application, high-efficiency biomass energy conversion, stover cellulose to ethanol, lignocellulosic sugar, stover cultivation substrate preparation, and bio-based material manufacturing.