New Perspectives for a More Sustainable Agriculture: From Plant Treatments to Postharvest Technologies
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 5271
Special Issue Editor
Interests: Food Science; Plant Science; HPLC-MS/MS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In the last decades, the world population is constantly increasing, and it is estimated to reach 10.6 billion in 2050. To date, considering also climate changes, feeding the current world population is a hard challenge, that is expected become more pronounced if new solutions will not be applied. However, the realization of this purpose has come at the expense of nature, following in serious environmental problems. Moreover, in the last decades, together with the global aspects, also the consumers’ interest for high quality foods is constantly growing. Food safety is a primary concern for the vast majority of people, and in particular consumers are worried about chemical hazards, especially for those perceived to be invisible, having long term effects or serious health implications. For these reasons, in parallel to consumer awareness toward the benefits related to intake of foods with high nutritional and nutraceutical properties, also the preference for organic foods that are grown, harvested and preserved in eco-sustainable way is rising.
In order to satisfy both agronomic and consumer needs, sustainable agriculture should be a valid alternative to conventional techniques, providing enough food for all, while reducing wastes and environmental or health risks, and allowing the production of high quality foods. To this purpose, various strategies are currently employed, including the use of more eco-sustainable products in agriculture practices, the application of new technologies for cultivation and postharvest, and the use of biostimulants or sustainable chemicals, including fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides.
This Special Issue focuses to publish both originals articles and reviews about sustainable applications in agriculture. Papers dealing with the application of novel products (i.e. pure compounds, natural extracts and food/industrial wastes) working as biostimulants, fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides, and aimed to increase plant well-being, plant resilience to stress conditions, production yield and crop/fruit quality are welcome in this Special Issue. Moreover, the use of postharvest technologies aimed at extending the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables, and/or to preserve their nutritional and nutraceutical quality over time, are equally accepted.
Dr. Giuseppe Mannino
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.
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Keywords
- biostimulants
- postharvest technologies
- plant productivity
- fruit quality
- crop quality
- resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses
- sustainable fertilizers
- sustainable insecticides
- sustainable herbicides
- food waste reutilization
