Plant Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the International Fertilizer Development Center

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy soil is imperative for agricultural intensification. Population growth and increasing pressure on land, water, and other resources urge society to transform food systems to be inclusive, produce more food with fewer inputs, and mitigate rising production risks from changing climates.

Although science can develop novel concepts and technologies, review studies report its reach to improve the lives of farm families to be negligible. On the other hand, development NGOs can reach a large number of farm families but may lack the scientific rigor for the recommendations and practices imposed on farmer communities and other actors in the food value chain.

This Special Issue on plant nutrition and sustainable agriculture calls for papers that bridge this divide and present impact at scale through science-based evidence. The impact of innovative fertilizers and application technologies (IFAT) on the improvement of soil health and subsequently on plant nutrition and yield will specifically be addressed as the foundation for sustainable agricultural intensification with enhanced system resilience.

Papers may cover the entire range of 1) agro-technical interventions to improve soil and plant health; 2) socio-economic conditions that drive farmers to adapt soil and plant health-improving practices; and 3) socio-institutional and political conditions that create the enabling environment for the adoption of soil and plant health-improving practices.

Dr. Prem S. Bindraban
Guest Editor

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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.

• soil and plant health
• innovative fertilizers and application technologies
• science-based implementation
• food system transformation
• gender equality and social inclusiveness