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Sustainability
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Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Cropping Systems
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Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Cropping Systems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 1911

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniel Menezes-Blackburn

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
Interests: soil microbiology, rhizosphere science, plant nutrition, soil phosphorus and sulfur, soil salinity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Bingjie Jin

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
Interests: soil–plant system, earthworm gut microbiology, vermicompost, rhizosphere, soil phosphorus cycling
Dr. Dong-Xing Guan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: soil contamination and remediation; passive sampling; chemical imaging; soil-plant interaction; contaminant and nutrient bioavailability; food safety; soil health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable food production faces significant challenges due to climate change, land degradation, and the scarcity of natural resources, thereby presenting a major obstacle for modern agriculture. Enhancing soil fertility and optimizing plant nutrition are crucial steps toward developing more sustainable farming systems that can meet increasing food demands while minimizing negative environmental consequences. While soil fertility deals with the availability and plant uptake of essential nutrients, soil health expands the concept so that it includes physical, chemical, and biological soil parameters and their feedback. Both soil fertility and soil quality (health) are directly related to and dependent on sustainable cropping practices, thus surpassing solely improving crop yields by including a focus on minimizing environmental impacts and accounting for long-term effects.

This Special Issue aims to combine interdisciplinary perspectives on emerging concepts, technologies, and practices at the forefront of enhancing soil health, soil quality, nutrient cycling, and crop nutrition in diverse cropping systems. We encourage submissions of original research articles and comprehensive reviews exploring innovative strategies for soil fertility management and nutrient use efficiency in sustainable crop production. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Ecologically based nutrient management strategies;
  • Feedback between plant nutrition and other aspects of sustainable farming;
  • Biological nutrient acquisition and plant–microbe interactions;
  • Innovations in organic amendments, biofertilizers, and biofortification;
  • Novel fertilizer formulations and enhanced efficiency products;
  • Nutrient management modeling and impact;
  • Breeding for nutrient use efficiency and adaptations to nutrient limitations;
  • Rhizosphere processes governing nutrient dynamics and acquisition;
  • Integration of crops with livestock for nutrient cycling;
  • Agroecological intensification and redesigning cropping systems;
  • Policy, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable nutrient management;
  • Life cycle assessments of nutrient flows and soil fertility practices.

We welcome submissions reporting original research findings from field studies, greenhouse experiments, modeling efforts, and synthesis/meta-analysis papers, which review important themes that are relevant to the scope of the Special Issue. Approaches relating to multidisciplinary systems that consider interactions among biological, technological, and socioeconomic factors are especially encouraged.

Manuscript submissions will undergo rigorous peer review. Both empirical research articles and comprehensive review papers will be considered for publication in this Special Issue. Please use the following link for more information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/about.

Dr. Daniel Menezes-Blackburn
Dr. Bingjie Jin
Dr. Dong-Xing Guan
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • agriculture sustainability
  • soil fertility
  • plant nutrition
  • cropping systems
  • fertilizers
  • nutrient use efficiency
  • nutrient management
  • crop nutrition

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1849 KiB  
Article
The Integration of Phosphorus-Solubilizing Rhizobacteria, Eisenia fetida and Phosphorus Rock Improves the Availability of Assimilable Phosphorus in the Vermicompost
by Alfonso Andrade-Sifuentes, Gabriel de Jesús Peña-Uribe, Jorge Sáenz-Mata, Jesús Josafath Quezada-Rivera, Rubén Palacio-Rodríguez and Gisela Muro-Pérez
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7576; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177576 - 1 Sep 2024
Viewed by 637
Abstract
Due to increasing soil degradation caused by unsustainable agricultural practices and the continued demand for quality food for the human population, it is imperative to find sustainable strategies for high-quality food production. For this reason, the objective of the present study was to [...] Read more.
Due to increasing soil degradation caused by unsustainable agricultural practices and the continued demand for quality food for the human population, it is imperative to find sustainable strategies for high-quality food production. For this reason, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the interaction between the factors of consortium of phosphorus-solubilizing rhizobacteria, addition of phosphate rock and worm load in horse manure to produce an organic fertilizer fortified with phosphorus. For this, consortia of phosphate-solubilizing rhizobacteria of the genus Bacillus (Bacillus aryabhattai, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus) isolated from the rhizosphere of Distichlis spicata were inoculated. Igneous phosphate rock (0 and 2%) was added in the vermicomposting process (with 25 and 50 g of E. fetida worms per kg of horse manure). The results obtained show that there is a significant interaction between the factors of inoculation with bacterial consortia (1 × 108 CFU mL−1), phosphate rock (2%) and earthworm biomass (50 g kg−1 of manure), and that this interaction promotes the production of assimilable forms of phosphorus for plants (such as monobasic phosphate ions H2PO4−1 or dibasic phosphate ions HPO4−2) within the vermicomposting process, having as a product an organic substrate supplemented with the optimal nutritional requirements for the development and growth of crops. This work can serve as a basis to produce high-quality organic fertilizer. However, field studies are required in order to observe the impact of vermicompost on the yield and quality of the fruits, and it can be compared with other types of fertilizers and the relevance of their use in different types of climates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Cropping Systems)
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13 pages, 3078 KiB  
Article
Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer Application on Soil Properties and Arsenic Mobilization in Paddy Soil
by Bing Han, Wei-Qing Chen, Yong-Qiang Jiao, Rui Yang, Li-Lu Niu, Xin-Ran Chen, Chen-Yang Ji and Dai-Xia Yin
Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5565; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135565 - 28 Jun 2024
Viewed by 726
Abstract
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) fertilization may substantially alter arsenic (As) behavior in the soil. However, a comprehensive understanding of how the soil As cycle responds to external N addition remains elusive. This study investigates the effects of various N fertilizers on soil properties and [...] Read more.
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) fertilization may substantially alter arsenic (As) behavior in the soil. However, a comprehensive understanding of how the soil As cycle responds to external N addition remains elusive. This study investigates the effects of various N fertilizers on soil properties and As mobility in paddy soil. Regardless of N sources, the concentrations of soluble As and SPLP-extractable As decreased with all N applications. Similarly, soil acidification occurred and dissolved iron (Fe) increased in most treatments, except for KNO3 addition. However, only the KNO3 application could reduce As desorption from soil minerals based on phosphate extraction. Also, KNO3 enhanced both soil catalase (S-CAT) and dehydrogenase (S-DEH) activities. Other N treatments decreased S-CAT activities, but increased S-DEH activities. Principal components analysis indicated that phosphate extractable As was associated with NH4+-N concentration and S-DEH activity, while the concentrations of soluble As and SPLP-extractable As were associated with pH, S-CAT activity, and dissolved Fe. These results demonstrated that the soil properties induced by the N application are the main drivers of As desorption in paddy soil and that KNO3 application is more eco-friendly than other N sources in As-contaminated paddy soil. This study shed light on the reasonable application of N-bearing fertilizers and the importance of soil properties to assess As mobility in As-contaminated paddy soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Cropping Systems)
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