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Agronomy
Special Issues
Sustainable Agriculture: Plant Protection and Crop Production
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Sustainable Agriculture: Plant Protection and Crop Production

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 3034

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luigi Morra

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Caserta, Italy
Interests: soil health; soil carbon balance; composting and composts; nitrogen fertilization; agroecology; crop systems; vegetable crops
Dr. Eugenio Cozzolino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Caserta, Italy
Interests: horticulture; tobacco; biodegradable mulching; biofertilizers; plant nutrition; plant physiology; fertilizers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability and productivity in agriculture cannot be separated. The increase in agricultural productivity in the context of environmental and economic sustainability is the result of the improvement of the entire production system: soil health management, plant improvement of output performance, optimization of crop and water management, correct approach to the protection from phytophagous organisms, plant diseases, and weeds. Goals such as the protection and enhancement of primary resources and biodiversity, land management and protection from natural and man-made risks can only be achieved through a systemic approach. Agroecological crop protection (ACP) is based on a qualitative but explicit model of the dynamics of pest and natural enemy populations at the scale of a section of the landscape adjoining the plot. ACP is therefore compatible with integrated pest management. Indeed, these two approaches may be seen as complementary because they are not on the same plane: the term ACP refers to the knowledge to be mobilized, and IPM to the operations to be carried out and their combination within technical itineraries. If it meets ACP criteria, IPM takes the form of its most demanding version, that of the use of chemical pesticides strictly as a last resort.

This Special Issue aims to collect scientific contributions resulting from multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches on the theme of the progressive redesign of food and non-food cropping systems. We expect contributions dealing with experiences linking the research of innovative strategies for phytosanitary protection from phytophagous, pathogens, weeds with agroecological management needs (tillage management, soil fertilization, crop irrigation, crop choice, crop spatial distribution, and temporal succession) capable of building soil and plant health, to supporting the production of crop systems while reducing reliance on external inputs.

Dr. Luigi Morra
Dr. Eugenio Cozzolino
Guest Editors

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

  • agroecology
  • integrated pest management
  • biological control of plant disease
  • crop protection
  • soil health
  • plant health
  • biofertilizers and biocontrol
  • organic amendment
  • cover crops
  • minimum tillage

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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15 pages, 1043 KiB  
Article
Drivers of Adoption of Sustainable Prickly Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) Innovations and Conservation Agriculture by Smallholder Farmers in Morocco
by Laura Eline Slot and Fatiha Fort
Agronomy 2024, 14(12), 3014; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14123014 - 18 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1027
Abstract
Climate change poses significant challenges for countries in Northern Africa such as Morocco. Smallholder farmers are especially vulnerable to climate change because they experience several challenges in the adoption of climate-resilient practices. The sustainable and well-managed cultivation of the cactus pear (Opuntia [...] Read more.
Climate change poses significant challenges for countries in Northern Africa such as Morocco. Smallholder farmers are especially vulnerable to climate change because they experience several challenges in the adoption of climate-resilient practices. The sustainable and well-managed cultivation of the cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) could contribute to conservation agriculture (CA) in dry climates threatened by climate change. Due to its high-water-use efficiency and ability to withstand extremely dry conditions, the cactus pear is increasingly being recognised as a more sustainable alternative to traditional livestock foraging in dryland areas. Compared to many other common crops and fodder, the cactus pear is easy to establish, maintain, and has a wealth of uses. Two innovative cultivation techniques are being developed: (1) the use of mixed inoculum formulations containing AMF (Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi) and PGPB (Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria) in the soil; and (2) intercropping between perennial (cactus pear) and short-term species (field crops). We propose to identify factors that could facilitate farmers’ innovation adoption. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 24 smallholder cactus pear farmers in Morocco. We concluded that farmers do not yet have a comprehensive understanding of the principles of the innovations. The main aim of farmers was to increase production and income. Farmers, in general, pay little attention to the environment. The recommendations that are given in relation to these issues are that training and social networks are essential in innovation transfer, adoption needs to be facilitated by providing resources, an innovation transfer needs to be adapted to the current and future needs of farmers, and we need patience so that farmers can slowly learn the innovations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agriculture: Plant Protection and Crop Production)
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13 pages, 238 KiB  
Article
Effect of Different Fertilization Strategies on Infestation of Brown Wheat Mite and Wheat Productivity
by Fatma Sh. Kalmosh, M. M. A. Ibrahim, Jiale Lv, Ibrahim A. Saleh, Jehad S. Al-Hawadie and Wahidah H. Al-Qahtani
Agronomy 2024, 14(10), 2428; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14102428 - 19 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1316
Abstract
The brown wheat mite, Petrobia tritici, poses a significant threat to wheat fields. While fertilizers can increase crop productivity, imbalanced application may exacerbate plant susceptibility to pests. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of various NPK fertilization programs on P. tritici [...] Read more.
The brown wheat mite, Petrobia tritici, poses a significant threat to wheat fields. While fertilizers can increase crop productivity, imbalanced application may exacerbate plant susceptibility to pests. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of various NPK fertilization programs on P. tritici infestations over two consecutive cropping seasons. The results revealed significant differences in mite infestation among the treatment groups (p < 0.001). The lowest populations (1.1 and 3.0 mites/leaf) were observed in the treatments sprayed with phosphoric acid (at 0.75 and 1.00 cm/L), where the infestation appeared approximately 120 days after sowing; in contrast, it appeared early at 75 days in the other treatments. Conversely, treatments lacking potassium fertilizer presented the greatest degree of mite injury levels (49.5–57.7 mites/leaf). Although these treatments provided moderate leaf nutrition and crop yield, the highest nutritional content and total yield (10.49 and 9.71 1 t/ha for the two years) were observed in the treatment that received 224:70:100 kg fad−1 commercial fertilizers (=178:25:114 kg ha−1 NPK units) as soil fertilization, which was followed by the treatment with a foliar application of phosphoric acid (1.00 cm/L) with a total yield of 9.34 and 8.53 1 t/ha for the two years. In this treatment, the P. tritici density was moderately high at 9.40 and 6.32 mites/leaf over the two years, respectively. The consistency of P. tritici density and total yield ranking across both years indicated reliable estimates of the impact of fertilization. This study suggests that potassium sulfate application is crucial for reducing P. tritici density and that foliar phosphoric acid application instead of soil application reduces the number of P. tritici and delays its occurrence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agriculture: Plant Protection and Crop Production)
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