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Agriculture
Special Issues
Agricultural Soil Health, Erosion and Remediation
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Agricultural Soil Health, Erosion and Remediation

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 February 2024) | Viewed by 2453

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Gangcai Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Conservancy, Chengdu 610041, China
Interests: soil health; soil erosion; soil conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy soils are vital for food production as 95% of global food production depends on our soils either directly or indirectly. With the increase of environmental stresses from both nature and human society, soil health (SH) is being increasingly threatened. However, soil scientists and ecologists have not reached an agreement on the concept of soil health. Different researchers have different definitions of SH depending on their fields, as SH research is a long-term and dynamic process, which also shows its complexity and importance. On the other hand, in many circumstances both SH and soil quality are considered synonymous with each other.

This Special Issue focuses on the connotation or definition, assessment methods, and improvement measures or practices of SH; the difference between SH and soil quality; and the impacts and tendencies of SH change. Research articles will cover a broad range of crop-land, frost-land and grass-land soil. All types of articles, such as original research, opinions, and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Gangcai Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • soil health
  • soil functions
  • soil quality
  • soil disease
  • soil degradation
  • soil conservation
  • soil improvement
  • soil biodiversity

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4630 KiB  
Article
Determination of Minimum Data Set for Soil Health Assessment of Farmlands under Wheat–Maize Crop System in Yanting County, Sichuan, China
by Zakir Hussain, Limei Deng, Xuan Wang, Rongyang Cui, Xueqin Li, Gangcai Liu, Ishtiaq Hussain, Farman Wali and Muhammad Ayub
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 951; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060951 - 18 Jun 2024
Viewed by 618
Abstract
The assessment of soil health through a robust index system having a sufficient number of indicators is an important step toward sustainable crop production. The present study aimed at establishing a minimum data set (MDS) from soil functional and nutritional attributes using a [...] Read more.
The assessment of soil health through a robust index system having a sufficient number of indicators is an important step toward sustainable crop production. The present study aimed at establishing a minimum data set (MDS) from soil functional and nutritional attributes using a dual index system to evaluate the soil health of farmlands under wheat (Triticum aestivum)–maize (Zea mays) crop rotation in Yanting County, Sichuan, China. Farms from 10 villages in the study area were selected, out of which three sites were considered healthy/ideal sites and used as a reference for the remaining seven targeted sites, and soil samples were collected at depth of 20 cm from these farms. The MDS indicators were selected by using principal component analysis (PCA) followed by Pearson’s correlation on 25 attributes. Based on significant values, eight attributes were retained in the final MDS, including the sucrase level, pH, wilting coefficient, water holding capacity, organic matter, NK ratio, total potassium, and available phosphorus. Based on the results, most of the farmland soils in Yanting County were in a healthy condition, accounting for 61.71% of the surveyed samples, followed by sub-healthy, degraded, and weak soils, accounting for 19.64%, 9.71%, and 8.93%, respectively. The values of most of the indicators at the targeted sites were significantly lower than those at ideal sites. Thus, specific steps should be taken by adding soil organic matter, combined with other fertilizers, to enhance the microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, and other biological activities in the soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Soil Health, Erosion and Remediation)
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13 pages, 2590 KiB  
Article
Bacteria Affect the Distribution of Soil-Dissolved Organic Matter on the Slope: A Long-Term Experiment in Black Soil Erosion
by Shanshan Cai, Wei Wang, Lei Sun, Yumei Li, Zhiling Sun, Zhongchao Gao, Jiuming Zhang, Yan Li and Dan Wei
Agriculture 2024, 14(3), 352; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14030352 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1138
Abstract
Soil erosion results in dissolved organic matter (DOM) loss and is one of the main paths of soil carbon loss. Bacteria affect the generation and transformation of DOM. However, the effect of bacteria on the composition and slope distribution of DOM has rarely [...] Read more.
Soil erosion results in dissolved organic matter (DOM) loss and is one of the main paths of soil carbon loss. Bacteria affect the generation and transformation of DOM. However, the effect of bacteria on the composition and slope distribution of DOM has rarely been investigated under field conditions. Based on a long-term experiment of three gradients (3°, 5°, 8°) in a black soil erosion area of Northeast China, the content, composition, and source of DOM were studied. The results showed that the DOM of the 3° and 5° slope was enriched midslope, and the DOM of the 8° slope was enriched downslope. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis indicated that the main substances in DOM were fulvic-like acid, humic-like acid, tryptophan-like protein, and soluble microbial metabolites. The upslope and downslope soils of 3° and 5° slopes showed high DOM bioavailability, while the downslope soil of the 8° slope showed high DOM bioavailability. The content of new DOM in downslope soil increased with the gradient. Bacteria played an important role in the synthesis and transformation of DOM and affected its composition and slope distribution. Verrucomicrobiota, Firmicutes, Planctomycetota, and Gemmatimonadota were the main factors affecting soil DOM. The results could be helpful in understanding the loss mechanism of DOM in eroded black soil and provide support for soil carbon sequestration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Soil Health, Erosion and Remediation)
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