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Practical Application of Crop Straw Reuse in Agriculture

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A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Systems and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 1830

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hanlin Zhang

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Guest Editor

Ecological Environment Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201403, China
Interests: environmental protection; crop straw recycling; planting and breeding integrated technology; soi remediation; soil carbon and nitrogen cycling; soil microbial diversity

Dr. Haiyun Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Ecological Environment Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201403, China
Interests: risk assessment of emerging pollutants; ecotoxicology; saline alkali soil remediation; nanotechnology; rapid decomposition of straw

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The multi-level recycling of crop straw is an important manifestation of circular agriculture and development. It is necessary to protect the natural ecosystem in the process of resource utilization, so as to reflect the nature of sustainable development and circular utilization in the new era. Crop straw has its own energy characteristics, and straw returning is a common and effective field management practice, with strong influence on soil fertility, physicochemical properties, microbial community structure and crop yield. Straw resources can be utilized as soil conditioning, fertilizer, animal feed, cultivation substrate for producing edible fungi and industrial applications.

Nowadays, research on straw returning to fields is very extensive, including its effects on crop yield, soil fertility, soil nutrient characteristics, soil microbial community structure characteristics, greenhouse gas emissions and other aspects.

We look forward to witnessing a more green, low-carbon, and circular approach to the utilization of straw resources, one which can contribute economic, social and ecological benefits, in addition to achieving the full utilization of waste such as grain, vegetables, livestock and forestry. We mainly focus on the three application directions of straw fertilization, fuel conversion and raw material conversion. We also focus on the effects of straw mulching on crops, straw returning to fields on soil characteristics, the application of straw pyrolysis and fermentation, as well as the mechanical properties and synthetic methods of straw composite materials.

The focus of this Special Issue is to present the developments of crop straw resource utilization in agriculture. We welcome the submission of innovative research, comments and opinion articles on related topics.

Prof. Dr. Hanlin Zhang
Dr. Haiyun Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

crop straw
resource utilization
circular agriculture
straw fertilization
ecological benefits
straw fuel conversion
environmental impact

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Soil, Climate, and Management Factors for Maximizing Crop Yield and Soil Nutrients in a Rice–Oilseed Rotation System with Straw Return

by Jianling Song, Quanquan Sun, Qiankun Li, Umair Ashraf, Xu Hu and Lin Li

Agriculture 2024, 14(3), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14030414 - 04 Mar 2024

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Abstract

Straw return (SR) has been widely recommended as a conservation agricultural practice in China. However, the effects of SR on crop yield and soil properties are inconsistent across studies of rice–oilseed rape cropping systems in China. This study aimed to investigate the effects of SR on crop yield and soil nutrient content in a rice–oilseed rotation system, and to understand the mechanism of straw return on the difference in yield increases between rice and oilseed rape. Additionally, suitable climate factors, soil properties, and agricultural practices were identified to achieve maximum increases in yield and soil nutrients in a rice–oilseed rotation under SR. This paper is based on a meta-analysis of 1322 observations from 83 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate the effects of climate, initial soil conditions, and agricultural management practices on rice and oilseed rape yields and soil nutrients under SR. The results showed that the responses of oilseed rape and rice yield remained positive, with 12.37% and 6.54% increases, and were significantly higher under SR than the control (no SR). Moreover, SR significantly increased the contents of several soil nutrients (soil organic carbon (SOC), total nutrients, available nutrients) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN). Interestingly, the increase in crop yields was attributed to the increase in SOC, total nitrogen, and available potassium. Additionally, the increase in yields was mainly affected by climate factors, initial soil properties, and agronomic practices. For example, both mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) had a positive correlation with crop yield increases under SR (p < 0.01). Initial soil conditions such as low SOC and total nitrogen content were more suitable for increased rice yield under SR, while the opposite was true for increased oilseed rape yield. Without fertilization, the SR did not significantly improve crop yield and soil nutrients, while it was more pronounced with N fertilization at 150–180 kg hm⁻². The positive effect of SR on crop yields is more evident with plowing tillage, whereas the SR caused the highest increase in soil nutrients with the no-tillage condition. These findings have important implications for further improving crop yield, SOC, and soil nutrients in the Chinese rice–oilseed cropping system through straw return. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practical Application of Crop Straw Reuse in Agriculture)

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20 pages, 10548 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CFD-Based Study on the Airflow Field in the Crushing Chamber of 9FF Square Bale Corn Stalk Pulverizer

by Jie Zhang, Xiang Tian, Chao Zhao, Xiuzhen Yu, Shiguan An, Rui Guo and Bin Feng

Agriculture 2024, 14(2), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14020219 - 29 Jan 2024

Viewed by 635

Abstract

During the steady operation of the 9FF square bale corn stalk pulverizer, the rapidly rotating spindle drives the hammers and impellers to form a complicated airflow field environment in the crushing chamber. The flow field characteristics in the crushing chamber can affect the motion law of stalks, thus influencing the pulverizing effect of the hammer blades on stalks and the ejection of materials. Based on establishing the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculation model of the crushing chamber in the 9FF square bale corn stalk pulverizer, in this paper, the effect of three groups of components, such as the hammer rack and blades, hammer rack and blades and the sieve, as well and the sieve and the impeller, on the distribution characteristics of airflow field in the crushing chamber. The simulation results show that the hammer piece group, screen, and impeller in the crushing room can effectively improve the crushing quality of materials, with the crushing efficiency and conveying efficiency at the highest speed of 3000 r/min. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practical Application of Crop Straw Reuse in Agriculture)

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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Carbon footprint assessment of straw return, biochar return and oxygen-modified-biochar return in paddy fields
Authors: Sha Zhimin; Cao Linkui
Affiliation: School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiaotong University

Title: Effect of Different Organic Materials on Secondary Salinized Greenhouse Soil Amelioration
Authors: Chen Zhaoliang; Ma Zhimei; Lv weiguang; Zhang Yue; Bai Naling; Zhang Hanlin
Affiliation: Eco-environmental Protection Institute of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Science

Title: Has Shanghai achieved carbon neutrality through the comprehensive utilization of paddy straw
Authors: Ye Geng; Zhang Hongyu; Lv weiguang; Zhang Yongqing; Zhang Hanlin
Affiliation: Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology; Eco-environmental Protection Institute of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Science

Title: Study on the effect of C / N ratio on sulfur transformation by adding straw to chicken manure compost
Authors: Guo Xiaoying; Cai Shangying; Ma Yi; Niu Xiangyu; Wan Junfeng; zhang jie; Wang Yan
Affiliation: College of Ecology and Environment, Zhengzhou University; International Joint Laboratory of Environment and Resources, Zhengzhou University