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AGRIS is the FAO International System for Agricultural Science and Technology: a free search engine and bibliographic database for food and agricultural research, run by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Researchers use it to find journal articles, books, conference papers and grey literature on agriculture and food systems. Institutions use it from the other side, by registering as a data provider so that their repository, catalogue or journal becomes visible in the index.
This guide covers what the live AGRIS counters showed on 2026-10-29, how an institution becomes a data provider (the fields on the official FAO form), what the open data set option means, and where AGRIS sits among the other citation databases and discovery tools.
What is AGRIS?
AGRIS is FAO’s international system for agricultural science and technology. FAO’s AGRIS site describes it as a search engine for food and agricultural scientific literature that gives free access to millions of bibliographic records. FAO has worked on AGRIS since 1974, helping member countries make their research visible through the FAO AGRIS Network. In a 2024 announcement of its online course, FAO called AGRIS “one of the most comprehensive search engines in food and agricultural scientific literature”.
AGRIS is operated by an intergovernmental organization, not a publisher or a commercial vendor, and the database discussed here lives at agris.fao.org.
What AGRIS indexes
According to the AGRIS homepage, the index covers food and agriculture research in these forms: journal articles, monographs and books, book chapters, conference proceedings, grey literature such as theses and working papers, and datasets.
AGRIS in numbers (snapshot of 2026-10-29)
The AGRIS homepage shows four live counters. On 2026-10-29 they read as follows; they change continuously, so check the site for current values.
| Counter on the AGRIS homepage | Value on 2026-10-29 |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic records | 16,723,116 |
| Data providers | 2,105 |
| Languages | 257 |
| Countries | 168 |
Smaller figures quoted elsewhere, such as about 13.5 million records, are older snapshots. FAO’s pages also give different language figures in different places, so quote the live counter and give the date you checked it.
Who should use AGRIS, and who should register as a data provider
Two different audiences use the system:
- Searchers. Anyone looking for agricultural and food-systems literature; FAO presents search of the records as free.
- Data providers. Organizations that hold agricultural research outputs can ask to supply their metadata. FAO’s provider form lists these organization types: Academia, Civil Society, Governmental, Intergovernmental, Non-Governmental, Publisher, Research and Other. The form lists no eligibility criteria; what it asks for is contact details and a working source.
FAO also runs an “AGRIS Seal of Recognition” for data providers. According to FAO’s AGRIS page, institutions that submit data between July 2026 and June 2027 can request renewal of the Seal for 2027 using a separate FAO form. Check the official site for the current process.
How to search AGRIS
- Open the search site at agris.fao.org/en.
- Type a query into the search box, or use the link labelled “Advanced Search” for a more structured query.
- Alternatively, use one of the thematic buttons on the homepage (for example “World Food Day” or “Agrifood Systems”). These launch a pre-loaded search that you can refine with the filters shown on the results page.
FAO supports searching with an “AGRIS online course”, a “Search and Browse” FAQ and a webinar titled “Mastering FAO AGRIS: How to Search Smarter”, all linked from the AGRIS page on fao.org. The online course was announced on 2024-07-04 as a short overview that works on desktop, tablet and phone and needs no registration.
The names of individual filters and the fields shown on a record page can change as FAO updates the site, so read them from the live results page rather than from a guide.
How an institution becomes an AGRIS data provider
FAO publishes a request form titled “Interested in becoming an AGRIS data provider”. On 2026-10-29 it asks for:
| Form section | What the form asks for |
|---|---|
| Organization details | Name, acronym, description, address, country, website and keywords |
| Organization type | Academia, Civil Society, Governmental, Intergovernmental, Non-Governmental, Publisher, Research or Other |
| Contacts | At least two contacts, each with the role Management or Technical |
| Resource type and source URL | Library Catalog, Repository, Journal, Aggregator, Dataset or Other, plus the URL of the source |
| Submission method | E-mail, or OAI-PMH (you give the OAI endpoint or an FTP URL) |
| Metadata format | AGRIS AP, DOAJ, Dublin Core, Endnote or MODS |
| AGRIS Open Data Set (ODS) | A yes or no choice; ODS makes the metadata you submit freely available under the CC BY IGO 3.0 licence |
The form does not require DOIs, ORCID iDs or a particular vocabulary. FAO also offers an “Online Course for Data Providers” for institutions that want guidance on preparing and submitting their records.
How AGRIS fits among citation databases and discovery tools
AGRIS is a subject-specific bibliographic database with an international, intergovernmental operator, which makes it different from the large multidisciplinary indexes. A researcher in agriculture or food systems would typically use it alongside, not instead of, those tools:
- For curated multidisciplinary citation indexing, see Scopus and Web of Science.
- For a broader research database that links publications, grants and datasets, see Dimensions.
- For checking whether an open access journal is listed in a curated directory, see DOAJ. Note that DOAJ is also one of the metadata formats AGRIS accepts from data providers.
- For a general-purpose search workflow, see using Google Scholar for a literature review.
Linking AGRIS records to researcher identifiers
AGRIS describes bibliographic records of outputs. A persistent researcher identifier such as an ORCID iD or a Scopus Author ID belongs to the person and lives in the ORCID or Scopus system. FAO does not state that AGRIS imports or displays ORCID iDs, so do not assume a record you find in AGRIS is linked to your ORCID record. The practical approach is to maintain your ORCID and Scopus profiles for your outputs and to treat AGRIS as an additional place where an output can be found, citing it by its DOI or its own source repository.
Common problems
- Quoting stale numbers. Copying a record or provider count from an older source produces an outdated figure. Cite the live counter with the date you checked it.
- Expecting a national registry. AGRIS is an international system run by FAO, not a country system; institutions take part as data providers through the FAO form.
- Treating AGRIS as the full text. FAO describes AGRIS as a source of bibliographic records, so use the record to find the output and the original source for the full document.
- Submitting a repository without a harvesting route. The form asks for a submission method (e-mail or OAI-PMH) and a metadata format; have the OAI endpoint or the file route and the format settled before you start.
- Confusing AGRIS with other organizations that use a similar name. The system described here is operated by FAO and is found at agris.fao.org.
Frequently asked questions
What is AGRIS?
AGRIS is the FAO International System for Agricultural Science and Technology, a search engine and bibliographic database for food and agricultural research, operated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations since 1974.
Is AGRIS free to use?
FAO describes AGRIS as giving free access to millions of bibliographic records. The online course for AGRIS also needs no registration.
What does AGRIS index?
Journal articles, monographs and books, book chapters, conference proceedings, grey literature such as theses and working papers, and datasets in food and agriculture.
How can my institution contribute records to AGRIS?
Submit FAO’s data provider request form. It asks for organization details, two management or technical contacts, the type and URL of your resource, a submission method (e-mail or OAI-PMH) and a metadata format.
Sources
Facts above come from FAO’s own pages, checked on 2026-10-29:
