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Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability
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Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2021) | Viewed by 122545

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pavel Krasilnikov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Interests: sustainability; soil conservation; carbon sequestration; land degradation; soil classification; pedology; soil geography; spatial variability of soil properties; soil survey; pedogenesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Miguel A. Taboada

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto De Investigación Suelos, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Nicolas Repetto y de los Reseros s/n, Buenos Aires 1686, Argentina
Interests: soil physics; water and soil management and conservation; soil fertility; tillage systems; soil quality indicators; soil salinity; greenhouse gas emissions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Amanullah

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agronomy, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan
Interests: crop nutrition; crop physiology; crop production; crop competition; dryland agriculture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Humankind has been using chemical (mineral) fertilizers to improve soil fertility and productivity for millennia. Since the 19th century, industrial mineral fertilizers have been increasingly used in agriculture. Their application is believed to be responsible for at least a 50% increase in crop yield in the 20th century. However, the inappropriate use of chemical fertilizers had negative effects on soil health and soil-related ecosystem services. Soil health is defined as the capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries, to sustain plant and animal health and productivity, and maintain or improve water and air quality. The major challenge for agricultural sustainability is to conserve ecosystem service delivery while optimizing agricultural yields. This Special Issue addresses the task to find a balance between increasing yields through the use of conventional and novel fertilizers, and the maintenance of soil and environmental health as a basis for the sustainable intensification of the agricultural sector.

Original research and review papers are invited. Papers chosen for publication will be selected by a rigorous peer-review procedure with the aim of the rapid dissemination of the research results.

Key topics in this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:

  • The effect of chemical fertilizers (major and micro nutrients) on soil properties, functions, and biodiversity;
  • The effect of efficiency-enhancing fertilizers (e.g., nano-fertilizers, nitripyrins, coated ureas) on soil health and productivity;
  • The effect of biofertilizers (beneficial microbes) on soil health and productivity;
  • The effect of organic fertilizers (crop residues, animal manures, compost, biochar, ashes) on soil health and productivity.

Kind regards,

Dr. Pavel Krasilnikov
Dr. Miguel A. Taboada
Dr. Amanullah
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

  • soil fertility and productivity
  • nutrients cycles
  • soil structure and texture
  • soil carbon transformation
  • soil biodiversity
  • microbial activity
  • plant disease pathogens
  • sustainable soil management
  • soil-based ecosystem services
  • growers income or economic analysis

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Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review, Other

5 pages, 211 KiB  
Editorial
Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability
by Pavel Krasilnikov, Miguel Angel Taboada and Amanullah
Agriculture 2022, 12(4), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12040462 - 25 Mar 2022
Cited by 74 | Viewed by 40515
Abstract
Due to the growing population and consequent pressure of use, agricultural soils must maintain adequate levels of quantity and quality to produce food, fiber, and energy, without falling victim to a negative impact on their balance of nutrients, health, or their ability to [...] Read more.
Due to the growing population and consequent pressure of use, agricultural soils must maintain adequate levels of quantity and quality to produce food, fiber, and energy, without falling victim to a negative impact on their balance of nutrients, health, or their ability to function [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)

Research

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18 pages, 3348 KiB  
Article
Biological Indicators of Soil Condition on the Kabanyolo Experimental Field, Uganda
by Anna Ivanova, Elizaveta Denisova, Patrick Musinguzi, Emmanuel Opolot, John Baptist Tumuhairwe, Lev Pozdnyakov, Natalia Manucharova, Igor Ilichev, Aleksey Stepanov and Pavel Krasilnikov
Agriculture 2021, 11(12), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11121228 - 6 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3002
Abstract
Soil biological activity is an integral characteristic reflecting the state of soil fertility, biodiversity, and the activity of soil processes carried out by soil organisms. In Africa, studies of soil biological properties are few compared to the agrochemical research. In this paper, we [...] Read more.
Soil biological activity is an integral characteristic reflecting the state of soil fertility, biodiversity, and the activity of soil processes carried out by soil organisms. In Africa, studies of soil biological properties are few compared to the agrochemical research. In this paper, we present an assessment of multiple biochemical and microbiological properties of soil from an agricultural field located in the African tropical savanna. We determined basal respiration, substrate-induced respiration, C of microbial biomass, the potential activity of denitrification, nitrogen fixation activity, and estimated prokaryotic components in the soil microbial complex by quantitative PCR. Basal respiration of soils ranged from 0.77 ± 0.04 to 1.90 ± 0.23 μg C-CO2·g−1·h−1, and substrate-induced respiration ranged from 3.31 ± 0.17 to 7.84 ± 1.04 μg C-CO2·g−1·h−1. The C reserves of microbial biomass averaged 403.7 ± 121.6 μg C·g−1 of soil. The N2O emission from the upper layer on average amounted to 2.79 ng N-N2O·g−1·day−1, and the potential denitrification activity reached 745 ± 98 ng N-N2O·g−1·h−1. The number of copies of bacterial genes varied from (0.19 ± 0.02) × 108 to (3.52 ± 0.8) × 108 copies·g−1, and of archaea—from (0.10 ± 0.01) × 107 to (0.29 ± 0.01) × 107 copies·g−1 of soil. These results were in good agreement with the studies in other seasonally wet tropical regions: the biological activity was relatively low. The difference between biological indicators of the experimental field and the reference profile were insignificant except for nitrogen loss, which was higher in the ploughed field. Biological indicators strongly varied in space; we explained their heterogeneity by non-uniform management practices in the course of agrochemical field experiments in the past. The use of organic fertilisers may cause the release of climatically active gases due to intensive microbial respiration and denitrification, but the intensity of emission would strongly depend on the cultivation and management method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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15 pages, 1100 KiB  
Article
Effects of Chemical Fertilizer Combined with Organic Fertilizer Application on Soil Properties, Citrus Growth Physiology, and Yield
by Lian-Jie Wan, Yang Tian, Man He, Yong-Qiang Zheng, Qiang Lyu, Rang-Jin Xie, Yan-Yan Ma, Lie Deng and Shi-Lai Yi
Agriculture 2021, 11(12), 1207; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11121207 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 46 | Viewed by 11766
Abstract
Chemical fertilizer has been excessively used for high yield of citrus around the world, especially in China; meanwhile, it deteriorates the citrus orchard soil environment. To resolve the conflict, the use of organic fertilizer provides a promising solution. However, the data about organic [...] Read more.
Chemical fertilizer has been excessively used for high yield of citrus around the world, especially in China; meanwhile, it deteriorates the citrus orchard soil environment. To resolve the conflict, the use of organic fertilizer provides a promising solution. However, the data about organic fertilizer used in citrus orchard is rarely available. Here, four treatments including CK (no fertilizer), CF (chemical fertilizer), OF + CF (chemical fertilizer reduction combined with organic fertilizer; application of N, P2O5, K2O fertilizer and organic fertilizer is 0.564, 0.236, 0.336 and 10 kg/plant), and BF + CF (chemical fertilizer reduction combined with bioorganic fertilizer; application of N, P2O5, K2O fertilizer and bioorganic fertilizer is 0.508, 0.320, 0.310 and 10 kg/plant) were performed in a ‘Ponkan’ (Citrus reticulata Blanco) orchard to evaluate the effect of organic fertilizer on citrus yield, growth, soil properties etc. when nutrients of fertilizer of each treatment were equal except CK. The data obtained in 2019 and 2020 showed that both OF + CF and BF + CF were beneficial to improve soil fertility (soil physicochemical and microbe properties) and citrus growth physiology (growth, nutrient and photosynthesis), alleviate NO3−-N leaching, and promote yields. Comprehensive evaluation indicated that BF + CF was more effective than OF + CF. Together, organic fertilizer has the potential to substitute partial chemical fertilizer with improvement in soil properties, growth physiology, and yield of citrus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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13 pages, 2367 KiB  
Article
Effects of Fertilisation Using Organic Waste Products with Mineral Complementation on Sugarcane Yields and Soil Properties in a 4 Year Field Experiment
by Frédéric Feder
Agriculture 2021, 11(10), 985; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100985 - 9 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2136
Abstract
Sugarcane cultivation is suitable for the exploitation of organic waste products. However, minimum complementary mineral input is necessary for optimal fertilisation. Control mineral fertilisation treatments with mulch (MCM) or without mulch (MC) were compared with two organic waste treatments, a pig slurry with [...] Read more.
Sugarcane cultivation is suitable for the exploitation of organic waste products. However, minimum complementary mineral input is necessary for optimal fertilisation. Control mineral fertilisation treatments with mulch (MCM) or without mulch (MC) were compared with two organic waste treatments, a pig slurry with mulch (PSM) and without mulch (PS), and a sugarcane vinasse with mulch (SVM) and without mulch (SV) on a Nitisol in French Reunion Island. The sugarcane yields obtained with the different treatments differed each year. However, no trend was observed and no significant and recurrent effect of the presence of mulch or of the different treatments was identified over the course of the 4 year experiment. Soil pHw and pH KCl measured in the different treatments increased from year 3 in with the treatments including organic waste products (PS, PSM, SV and SVM) but remained constant with the treatments including only mineral fertilisation (MC and MCM). With the exception of PS and PSM, which were significantly higher in year 4, soil organic carbon content was not modified by the treatments. Soil cation exchange capacity increased only slightly with the PS and PSM treatments from year 3 on. The differences in yields and soil properties can be explained by the nature of the organic waste products, the accumulation of nutrients after several applications, and the specific characteristics of the sugarcane crop. The improvement in soil properties from the third year on was not reflected in the yield of sugarcane because it was too weak, and the crop explores a much larger volume of soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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13 pages, 3942 KiB  
Article
Effects of Onion Residue, Bovine Manure Compost and Compost Tea on Soils and on the Agroecological Production of Onions
by Luciano Orden, Nicolás Ferreiro, Patricia Satti, Luis Manuel Navas-Gracia, Leticia Chico-Santamarta and Roberto A. Rodríguez
Agriculture 2021, 11(10), 962; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100962 - 3 Oct 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4388
Abstract
Organic solid wastes are rarely considered when planning for rural production in Argentina. Onion production in the low valley of Río Colorado (Buenos Aires) generates between 12,000 and 20,000 Mg year−1 of vegetal wastes (i.e., leaves, stems, skins, roots) from harvesting, cleaning [...] Read more.
Organic solid wastes are rarely considered when planning for rural production in Argentina. Onion production in the low valley of Río Colorado (Buenos Aires) generates between 12,000 and 20,000 Mg year−1 of vegetal wastes (i.e., leaves, stems, skins, roots) from harvesting, cleaning and classification of bulbs, causing many problems with their management. The aim of this work is to study the effect of different doses of onion residue-bovine manure compost and onion residue-bovine manure compost tea on the soil physicochemical properties, microbial activity and agroecological onion production in sandy soil. Results showed that the highest dose of compost caused the highest effects on soil pH, electrical conductivity and nutrient content. Soil enzymatic activities were already high in the soil before the compost was applied, which may have contributed to the small effect caused by any dose on soil activity. A significant positive effect on bulb weight and organic onion yield were found as a result of the amendment and growing season. In conclusion, agroecological production of onion with the addition of a 300 kg N ha−1 compost and compost tea guarantee yields comparable to those of conventional fertilization, as occurred during the two growing seasons of this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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18 pages, 2086 KiB  
Article
Assessing Nitrogen Availability in Biobased Fertilizers: Effect of Vegetation on Mineralization Patterns
by Hongzhen Luo, Ana A. Robles-Aguilar, Ivona Sigurnjak, Evi Michels and Erik Meers
Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 870; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090870 - 10 Sep 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3296
Abstract
Biobased nitrogen (N) fertilizers derived from animal manure can substitute synthetic mineral N fertilizer and contribute to more sustainable agriculture. Practitioners need to obtain a reliable estimation of the biobased fertilizers’ N value. This study compared the estimates for pig slurry (PS) and [...] Read more.
Biobased nitrogen (N) fertilizers derived from animal manure can substitute synthetic mineral N fertilizer and contribute to more sustainable agriculture. Practitioners need to obtain a reliable estimation of the biobased fertilizers’ N value. This study compared the estimates for pig slurry (PS) and liquid fraction of digestate (LFD) using laboratory incubation and plant-growing experiments. A no-N treatment was used as control and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) as synthetic mineral fertilizer. After 100 days of incubation, the addition of PS and LFD resulted in a net N mineralization rate of 10.6 ± 0.3% and 20.6 ± 0.4% of the total applied N, respectively. The addition of CAN showed no significant net mineralization or immobilization (net N release 96 ± 6%). In the pot experiment under vegetation, all fertilized treatments caused N immobilization with a negative net N mineralization rate of −51 ± 11%, −9 ± 4%, and −27 ± 10% of the total applied N in CAN, PS, and LFD treatments, respectively. Compared to the pot experiment, the laboratory incubation without vegetation may have overestimated the N value of biobased fertilizers. Vegetation resulted in a lower estimation of available N from fertilizers, probably due to intensified competition with soil microbes or increased N loss via denitrification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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15 pages, 1930 KiB  
Article
Effects of Different Organic Fertilizers on Improving Soil from Newly Reclaimed Land to Crop Soil
by Xuqing Li, Yao Su, Temoor Ahmed, Haiying Ren, Muhammad Rizwan Javed, Yanlai Yao, Qianli An, Jianli Yan and Bin Li
Agriculture 2021, 11(6), 560; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11060560 - 18 Jun 2021
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 5249
Abstract
The rapid development of cities in the recent 10 years caused a reduction in the cultivated land area, which only accounts for 14% of the total land area in China. Land development and reclamation have been regarded as an effective way to compensate [...] Read more.
The rapid development of cities in the recent 10 years caused a reduction in the cultivated land area, which only accounts for 14% of the total land area in China. Land development and reclamation have been regarded as an effective way to compensate farmland occupation. However, most of the newly reclaimed land has poor soil fertility and suitability; in some cases, the production capacity is only 10–30% of the occupied farmland. In order to ameliorate the soil quality of the newly reclaimed land, this study evaluated the effects of commercial organic fertilizer (0.75, 1.50, and 2.25 kg/m2), mushroom residue (1.50, 2.25, and 3.00 kg/m2), biogas slurry (150, 225, and 300 kg/m2), vegetable cake (0.30 and 0.60 kg/m2), and chemical compound fertilizer (37.50 g/m2) on the pH, moisture content and organic matter content (OMC), available phosphate, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and number of total bacteria and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, as well as the growth of maize seedlings. The results from this study indicate that the soil quality (OMC is an indicator) was ameliorated by chemical and organic fertilizers, in particular commercial organic fertilizers, which caused a 9.35–16.35% increase in moisture content, a 11.56–18.72% increase in pH, a 1.73–2.15 fold increase in OMC, a 338.44–491.41% increase in available P, a 36.80–48.14% increase in total N, a 95.32–128.34% increase in alkaline hydrolysis N, a 92.57–178.38% increase in total bacterial numbers, and a 7.57–20.87 fold increase in microbial biomass carbon compared with the control. The pot experiment further indicated that soil amended with commercial organic fertilizers caused a 20.35–30.55% increase in the height and a 12.50–16.67% increase in the total dry weight of maize seedlings. In addition, representative strains with the ability to dissolve phosphorus and fix nitrogen were successfully isolated using the culture method, and were then identified based on colony morphological observation and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, which help us to not only understand why organic fertilizer has great effect on soil improvement, but also provides beneficial microbial resources for further study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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12 pages, 1185 KiB  
Article
Effects of Phosphorus on Nitrification Process in a Fertile Soil Amended with Urea
by Jianfeng Ning, Yuji Arai, Jian Shen, Ronghui Wang and Shaoying Ai
Agriculture 2021, 11(6), 523; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11060523 - 4 Jun 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3203
Abstract
While the effects of carbon on soil nitrogen (N) cycle have been extensively studied, it is not clearly understood how co-existing macronutrients, such as phosphorus (P), affect the N cycle in agroecosystems. In this study, P amendment effects on nitrification in a fertile [...] Read more.
While the effects of carbon on soil nitrogen (N) cycle have been extensively studied, it is not clearly understood how co-existing macronutrients, such as phosphorus (P), affect the N cycle in agroecosystems. In this study, P amendment effects on nitrification in a fertile agricultural soil were investigated under a typical N-P amendment rate. In a laboratory incubation study, soils were amended with urea, monopotassium phosphate and a mixture of urea and monopotassium phosphate at the same rate. In soils that received no amendments (control), P only, urea only, and urea plus P amendment, nitrification occurred within the first five days, with an average net nitrification rate of 5.30, 5.77, 16.66 and 9.00 mg N kg−1d−1, respectively. Interestingly, nitrification in urea-treated soils was retarded by P addition where a N:P ratio seemed to be a key factor impeding nitrification. This was also supported by the response of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which was more sensitive to P addition than ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The outcome of this study showed that application of P fertilizer suppressed the nitrification process in urea amended soil, suggesting that a synergistic aspect of N and P nutrient management should be further explored to retard N losses from agricultural systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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19 pages, 2905 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Composted Organic Wastes and Farmyard Manure for Improving Fertility of Poor Sandy Soils in Arid Regions
by Houda Oueriemmi, Petra Susan Kidd, Carmen Trasar-Cepeda, Beatriz Rodríguez-Garrido, Rahma Inès Zoghlami, Kaouther Ardhaoui, Ángeles Prieto-Fernández and Mohamed Moussa
Agriculture 2021, 11(5), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11050415 - 4 May 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4904
Abstract
Farmyard manure, an amendment traditionally used for improving the fertility of sandy soils in arid climates, is becoming scarce and expensive. Its shortage makes it necessary to evaluate, at field scale, the suitability and medium-term performance of other cheap, highly available substitutes. A [...] Read more.
Farmyard manure, an amendment traditionally used for improving the fertility of sandy soils in arid climates, is becoming scarce and expensive. Its shortage makes it necessary to evaluate, at field scale, the suitability and medium-term performance of other cheap, highly available substitutes. A field trial was established to analyze the effects of a single application of three organic residues on barley yield and nutrient uptake and selected soil properties after two consecutive harvests. Municipal solid waste compost (MSWC), sewage sludge compost (SSC) and farmyard manure (FYM) were tested at rates of 0, 20, 40 and 60 t ha−1. Adding all three organic amendments increased organic matter, cation exchange capacity and available P, Ca, Mg and K in the soil, the grain yield (up to 51%), and the barley plants’ nutrient contents. After the second harvest, a positive residual effect of the amendment was observed in plant yield (up to 77%) and nutrient contents. MSWC and SSC induced slight increases on the extractable fractions (BCR protocol) of Co, Cu and Ni, relative to the unamended soil. The results demonstrate the positive immediate and residual effect of the amendments evaluated as fertilizers for agricultural purposes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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13 pages, 2015 KiB  
Article
Responses of Soil Abiotic Properties and Microbial Community Structure to 25-Year Cucumber Monoculture in Commercial Greenhouses
by Yu-Han Gao, Xiao-Hong Lu, Rong-Jun Guo, Jian-Jun Hao, Zuo-Qing Miao, Li Yang and Shi-Dong Li
Agriculture 2021, 11(4), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11040341 - 11 Apr 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2564
Abstract
Cucumber monoculture could cause soil salinization and acidification, soilborne diseases, and eventually yield loss. However, after a 25-year monoculture in Wafangdian county, Liaoning province, China, cucumber yields have remained satisfactory. In the present study, we investigated how the soil abiotic and biotic properties, [...] Read more.
Cucumber monoculture could cause soil salinization and acidification, soilborne diseases, and eventually yield loss. However, after a 25-year monoculture in Wafangdian county, Liaoning province, China, cucumber yields have remained satisfactory. In the present study, we investigated how the soil abiotic and biotic properties, in addition to soil rhizosphere microbial community structure in the greenhouses, could still sustain plant growth after such long-term monoculture production. Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and available nitrogen were accumulated significantly after monoculture. Such increasing soil fertility was accompanied by increased soil microbial abundance, which reshaped soil microbial community structure. Both bacterial and fungal diversity, including observed and estimated richness, Heip evenness, and Shannon diversity, decreased significantly, while the monoculture period had a greater influence on fungal diversity than on bacterial diversity. Although the high accumulation of soil nutrients increased soil salinity and acidity, the abundance of potential plant pathogenic fungi did not show an obvious increase. These results indicated that maintaining soil abiotic and biotic properties using organic fertilizers and balanced chemical fertilizers, especially improving potassium fertilizer application, could be useful measurements for the sustainable development of greenhouse vegetable production. In addition, appropriate management strategies should be considered to reduce the potential risk of soil salinization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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12 pages, 7499 KiB  
Article
Spatial Distribution of Soil Nutrients in Farmland in a Hilly Region of the Pearl River Delta in China Based on Geostatistics and the Inverse Distance Weighting Method
by Rumi Wang, Runyan Zou, Jianmei Liu, Luo Liu and Yueming Hu
Agriculture 2021, 11(1), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11010050 - 10 Jan 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3738
Abstract
Soil nutrients are essential factors that reflect farmland quality. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential elements for plants, while silicon is considered a “quasi-essential” element. This study investigated the spatial distribution of plant nutrients in soil in a hilly region of the Pearl [...] Read more.
Soil nutrients are essential factors that reflect farmland quality. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential elements for plants, while silicon is considered a “quasi-essential” element. This study investigated the spatial distribution of plant nutrients in soil in a hilly region of the Pearl River Delta in China. A total of 201 soil samples were collected from farmland topsoil (0–20 cm) for the analysis of total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), and available silicon (ASi). The coefficients of variation ranged from 47.88% to 76.91%. The NSRs of TN, AP, AK, and ASi were 0.15, 0. 07, 0.12, and 0.13, respectively. The NSRs varied from 0.02 to 0.20. All variables exhibited weak spatial dependence (R2 < 0.5), except for TN (R2 = 0.701). After comparing the prediction accuracy of the different methods, we used the inverse distance weighting method to analyze the spatial distribution of plant nutrients in soil. The uniform spatial distribution of AK, TN overall showed a trend of increasing from northeast to southwest, and the overall spatial distribution of AP and ASi showed that the northeast was higher than the southwest. This study provides support for the delimitation of basic farmland protection areas, the formulation of land use spatial planning, and the formulation of accurate farmland protection policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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Review

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24 pages, 1514 KiB  
Review
Revisiting Sulphur—The Once Neglected Nutrient: It’s Roles in Plant Growth, Metabolism, Stress Tolerance and Crop Production
by Tinashe Zenda, Songtao Liu, Anyi Dong and Huijun Duan
Agriculture 2021, 11(7), 626; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11070626 - 3 Jul 2021
Cited by 84 | Viewed by 15695
Abstract
Sulphur plays crucial roles in plant growth and development, with its functions ranging from being a structural constituent of macro-biomolecules to modulating several physiological processes and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In spite of these numerous sulphur roles being well acknowledged, agriculture has paid [...] Read more.
Sulphur plays crucial roles in plant growth and development, with its functions ranging from being a structural constituent of macro-biomolecules to modulating several physiological processes and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In spite of these numerous sulphur roles being well acknowledged, agriculture has paid scant regard for sulphur nutrition, until only recently. Serious problems related to soil sulphur deficiencies have emerged and the intensification of food, fiber, and animal production is escalating to feed the ever-increasing human population. In the wake of huge demand for high quality cereal and vegetable diets, sulphur can play a key role in augmenting the production, productivity, and quality of crops. Additionally, in light of the emerging problems of soil fertility exhaustion and climate change-exacerbated environmental stresses, sulphur assumes special importance in crop production, particularly under intensively cropped areas. Here, citing several relevant examples, we highlight, in addition to its plant biological and metabolism functions, how sulphur can significantly enhance crop productivity and quality, as well as acclimation to abiotic stresses. By this appraisal, we also aim to stimulate readers interests in crop sulphur research by providing priorities for future pursuance, including bettering our understanding of the molecular processes and dynamics of sulphur availability and utilization in plants, dissecting the role of soil rhizospherical microbes in plant sulphur transformations, enhancing plant phenotyping and diagnosis for nutrient deficiencies, and matching site-specific crop sulphur demands with fertilizer amendments in order to reduce nutrient use inefficiencies in both crop and livestock production systems. This will facilitate the proper utilization of sulphur in crop production and eventually enhance sustainable and environmentally friend food production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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12 pages, 2338 KiB  
Review
Bibliometric Analysis of Soil Nutrient Research between 1992 and 2020
by Xiaoyan Pan, Jialong Lv, Miles Dyck and Hailong He
Agriculture 2021, 11(3), 223; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11030223 - 8 Mar 2021
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 5471
Abstract
Soil nutrient balance is related to the interaction mechanism between soil fertilizer, soil water, climate change, and plant capability. This paper provides a perspective from bibliometric analysis based on data from the Web of Science core collection with software tools, including Vosviewer, HistCite [...] Read more.
Soil nutrient balance is related to the interaction mechanism between soil fertilizer, soil water, climate change, and plant capability. This paper provides a perspective from bibliometric analysis based on data from the Web of Science core collection with software tools, including Vosviewer, HistCite Pro, and Citespace, in order to reveal the evolution of research trends in soil nutrients. The results show that publication outputs have increased exponentially from 1992 to 2020. The synthetic parameter of the sum of normalized data (SND), calculated from the default indicators of the bibliometric software tools, was used to rank the overall contribution of journal/authors/institutions/countries. The results demonstrate that Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, Soil Biology & Biochemistry and Science of the Total Environment are the leading journals in the soil nutrient field. The Chinese Academy of Sciences had the highest total citations and collaborated most closely with other organizations, followed by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Agr& Agri Food Canada. In addition, USA, China, and UK are the top three research centers for this topic. Moreover, Ken E Giller, Qirong Shen, and Rattan Lal were the top three authors, while Andrew Sharpley ranked the first depending on citations per publication. In terms of co-occurrence of keyword analysis, the results indicate that nitrogen fertilizer, green manure, and soil population have gained close attention from scholars, while soil amendment of biochar have evolved as a hot topic in recent years. Perspectives on future studies are also given. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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15 pages, 490 KiB  
Perspective
Ammonia Volatilization from Fertilizer Urea—A New Challenge for Agriculture and Industry in View of Growing Global Demand for Food and Energy Crops
by Maria Skorupka and Artur Nosalewicz
Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 822; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090822 - 29 Aug 2021
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 10913
Abstract
The growing world population and the necessity to meet its nutritional needs despite the limited area of agricultural land pose a serious challenge for agriculture. Agriculture is responsible for 80–95% of total ammonia emissions to the atmosphere, but at the same time it [...] Read more.
The growing world population and the necessity to meet its nutritional needs despite the limited area of agricultural land pose a serious challenge for agriculture. Agriculture is responsible for 80–95% of total ammonia emissions to the atmosphere, but at the same time it has great potential to reduce them. Fertilisation with mineral nitrogen (in particular urea) is responsible for 19.0–20.3% of total ammonia emissions emitted from agriculture. Ammonia emissions have a negative impact on the environment and human health, therefore it is important to minimize the volatilization of ammonia and increase fertiliser efficiency. This is important due to the need to mitigate the negative impact of anthropopressure on the environment in terms of air pollution, negative effect on soils and waters. The application of urease inhibitors during fertilisation with nitrogen fertilisers is one method to reduce ammonia emissions from plant production. Another option to achieve this goal is to reverse the global trend toward maximizing the production of energy crops (intensive fertilisation inevitably increasing ammonia emissions to the environment) for the production of biofuels, which is growing rapidly, taking up arable land that could be used for food production. The aim of the review is to identify the impact of recently introduced technologies for reducing ammonia emissions from urea on agricultural productivity, environment, and crops. It is of importance to reconsider optimization of crop production in arable land, possible owing to the progress in the production, modification, and application of mineral fertilisers and changes in crop structure. A broad debate is necessary with policymakers and stakeholders to define new targets allowing introduction of technologies for conversion of energy crops into energy with a minimal impact on food production and environmental issue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fertilizer Use, Soil Health and Agricultural Sustainability)
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