Agronomy

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Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasing crop yield while simultaneously reducing agriculture’s environmental burden is currently one of the main concerns of the scientific and public communities. Vegetables, as a rich source of vitamins, micronutrients, minerals, and fiber, are an important part of the human diet. Nowadays, vegetables are intensively managed crops, and global vegetable production has increased by 50% in the last 15 years. However, intensive vegetable production is generally considered a high-nutrient-input and high-environmental-risk system, which is mainly due to the low nutrient and water uptake efficiency associated with the shallow root systems of most vegetable species. Optimizing nutrient management practices for vegetable production is urgently needed to resolve the conflict between high yields and environmental risk.

In this Special Issue, we aim to exchange knowledge on the latest research results in the growth and nutrient management of vegetables in recent years, propose issues worthy of research, promote theoretical research and technical applications of reasonable vegetable nutrient management, and further contribute to sustainable vegetable production. The scope of this Special Issue includes but is not limited to, the following topics: (1) nutrient demand characteristics of vegetables; (2) soil fertility and regulation strategies for vegetable fields; (3) optimal nutrient management practices to increase vegetable yield or quality; (4) optimal strategies to reduce the reactive N loss and environmental risk; and (5) vegetable growth models.

Dr. Xiaozhong Wang
Dr. Baige Zhang
Guest Editors

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

15 pages, 1364 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrated Soil–Crop System Management Promotes Sustainability of Intensive Vegetable Production in Plastic Shed Systems: A Case Study in the Yangtze River Basin, China

by Gang Wu, Bin Liu, Mingjiong Zhao, Long Liu, Sujun Wei, Manman Yuan, Jiabao Wang, Xinping Chen, Xiaozhong Wang and Yixiang Sun

Agronomy 2024, 14(4), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14040807 - 12 Apr 2024

Viewed by 741

Abstract

Excessive fertilizer input, low nutrient use efficiency, soil quality, and environmental degradation hinder greenhouse vegetable production. Integrated agronomic strategies of soil, crop, and nutrient management are needed to sharply improve the vegetable yield and simultaneously maintain sustainable production. A three-season field experiment was conducted from 2015 to 2018, aiming to evaluate the effect of integrated soil–crop system management (ISSM) on the agronomy, environment, and economy of greenhouse vegetable systems in the Yangtze River Basin, China. Three treatments were included in the experiment: (1) farmers’ current practice (FP), based on a local farmers’ survey; (2) soil remediation treatment (SR), the application of soil conditioner and compost fertilizer instead of chicken manure; (3) ISSM, a combination of soil conditioner, reducing plant density, and using formula fertilizer as well as increasing the fertilization times. The results indicated that ISSM (47.7 Mg ha⁻¹) improved the pepper yield by 17% relative to farmers’ current practice (FP, 40.7 Mg ha⁻¹). Soil remediation (SR), as a single approach, mainly made a contribution to improving the yield (by 6.9%) and nutrient use efficiency while reducing apparent nitrogen (N) losses. Higher yields were mainly attributed to increasing the fruit number per plant. On average, apparent N losses were reduced by 245 kg N ha⁻¹ per season for ISSM compared to FP. In addition, higher net profits were obtained under SR and ISSM relative to FP. Overall, both SR and ISSM have advantages for the agronomy, environment, and economy in greenhouse vegetable production, but ISSM would be the optimal choice to achieve higher yields with lower environmental impacts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables—2nd Edition)

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