The Effect of Biofertilizer on the Growth, Yield, and Quality of Crops

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 1324

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: soil organic matter; GHG emissions; biofertilizer; sustainable agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biofertilizers are the basic source of nutrients for sustainable and ecological agriculture, which is why this Special Issue will be devoted to them.

Biofertilizers are substances containing various microorganisms that have the ability to increase the uptake of nutrients by plants by colonizing the rhizosphere and facilitating the absorption of nutrients. Biofertilizers are an effective and economically viable alternative to mineral fertilisers. In recent years, one of the very important goals of modern agriculture, especially organic farming, has been to maintain the health of soils, e.g., through the selection of appropriate fertilisation methods. Therefore, interest in the bioproducts market is growing dynamically, which makes it necessary to implement new biofertilizers, including microbiological products, into agricultural practice. We invite authors to submit papers on various types of biofertilizers and the mechanisms by which they activate their function of increasing yields in order to mitigate climate changes, increase crop production, and meet food needs.

Dr. Daniela Pezzolla
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. Agronomy 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

  • biofertilizer
  • nanofertilizers
  • nutrients availability
  • soil health restoration
  • crop growth
  • yield performance
  • effective microorganism
  • organic fertilizer
  • sustainable agriculture
  • climate change
  • agricultural by-products

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 1425 KiB  
Article
Effect of Composted Organic Waste on Miscanthus sinensis Andersson Yield, Morphological Characteristics and Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Content
by Mariola Zając and Teresa Skrajna
Agronomy 2024, 14(8), 1672; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081672 (registering DOI) - 30 Jul 2024
Abstract
The aim of this research was to determine the impact of composted mushroom substrate and composted municipal waste on the quality and yield of Miscanthus sinensis Andersson biomass. The plant was grown on anthropogenic soil, cultured earth type and hortisol subtype, with a [...] Read more.
The aim of this research was to determine the impact of composted mushroom substrate and composted municipal waste on the quality and yield of Miscanthus sinensis Andersson biomass. The plant was grown on anthropogenic soil, cultured earth type and hortisol subtype, with a pH of 6.81. Before planting rhizomes, experimental plots were treated with composted mushroom substrate and composted municipal waste, applied separately or in combination, each dose introducing 170 N kg·ha−1 to the soil. During the experiment, observations of plant development and growth were carried out, and the yield was determined. Each growing season’s measurements were taken of the grass height, the number and diameter of stems and the number of leaf blades and of nodes per stem. In order to determine the level of plant stress, relative chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were determined. The measurements were carried out in a non-invasive way, using the SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter and OS30p+ plant stress meter. For the research hypothesis, it was assumed that the one-time addition of composted mushroom substrate and composted municipal waste to the soil would increase yields. The experiment also aimed to assess the impact of both types of compost on the yield and morphological characteristics of Miscanthus sinensis. Its yields increased steadily, and, in the third year of cultivation, were higher by 52%. The highest average yields were noted on plots fertilized only with composted mushroom substrate (KPP100%), with 8.44 Mg·ha−1 DM, and with compost from municipal waste (KOM100%), with 7.91 Mg·ha−1 DM. The experience presents a solution to the problem of increasing amounts of organic waste and represents an improvement in cultivation techniques to increase crop yields, improve their quality and increase resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. This paper highlights the possibility of applying environmentally friendly organic waste materials to energy crops used as a sustainable energy source. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 487 KiB  
Article
Effects of Nopal and Goat Manure on Soil Fertility and the Growth, Yield and Physical Characteristics of Tomato and Carrot Plants
by Guadalupe Yohana González-Torres, Aurea Bernardino-Nicanor, Stephanie Fernández-Avalos, Gerardo Acosta-García, José Mayolo Simitrio Juárez-Goiz and Leopoldo González-Cruz
Agronomy 2024, 14(6), 1221; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14061221 - 5 Jun 2024
Viewed by 619
Abstract
Nopal (Opuntia) is a resource that is discarded after pruning complete cladodes. For this reason, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the combined use of organic matter (nopal) and goat manure on changes in soil characteristics [...] Read more.
Nopal (Opuntia) is a resource that is discarded after pruning complete cladodes. For this reason, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the combined use of organic matter (nopal) and goat manure on changes in soil characteristics and on the growth and yield performance of carrot and tomato plants. Physicochemical analysis of the soil and goat manure was carried out, and germination tests and physical characterization of the plants and the products obtained were performed on tomato and carrot plants after adding the components of the cladodes alone and the cladodes with goat manure. The results showed that the application of the nopal cladode components increased the cation exchange capacity of the soil. The highest germination rate was obtained by the application of liquid nopal, with a 1.7-fold increase in the germination rate of carrot seeds, while that for tomato seeds was only 14%. Similar results were obtained for the germination percentage. An increase in resistance to water stress of approximately 15 days was observed in both tomato and carrot plants. Plant development and production were achieved in tomato, with a 100% increase in carrot plant length and a threefold increase in production. The addition of nopal to the soil improved the soil characteristics and the production yield of carrots and tomatoes. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop