Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.3
3.6
Journals
Agriculture
Special Issues
Salinized Soil Management: Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Productivity
share announcement

Salinized Soil Management: Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Productivity

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2026 | Viewed by 843

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhenhua Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Interests: phytoremediation; fertilization; soil improvement; salt-affected soil reclamation; wetland
Prof. Dr. Yanchao Bai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Interests: soil amendment; saline-alkali land; soil carbon storage; heavy metal; plant nutrition
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil salinization, driven by unsustainable irrigation, climate change, and coastal intrusion, threatens over 1 billion hectares of global agricultural land, diminishing crop yields and destabilizing ecosystems. Sustainable solutions for this challenge require a paradigm shift toward ecological strategies that restore soil health and transform salt-affected lands into productive, resilient agroecosystems. The core objective lies in advancing innovative soil management systems that harmonize ecological restoration with sustainable agricultural output, ensuring long-term food security and environmental improvement.

This Special Issue will highlight research on ecological and technological interventions for salinized soils, including, but not limited to, phytoremediation with salt-tolerant plants, microbial consortia for nutrient cycling, organic amendments to enhance soil structure, precision nutrient management, and the genomics-driven development of stress-tolerant crops. Emerging tools such as remote sensing for salinity mapping are also within the scope. We invite original research articles, reviews, and case studies that bridge soil science, agronomy, and ecology. Submissions addressing novel methodologies, large-scale restoration frameworks, or interdisciplinary approaches to salinization challenges are also encouraged.

Dr. Zhenhua Zhang
Prof. Dr. Yanchao Bai
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Agriculture 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 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

  • soil salinization
  • salt stress
  • phytoremediation
  • ecological restoration
  • organic amendments
  • microbial community structure
  • biofertilizer
  • sustainable productivity

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

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

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

25 pages, 2200 KB  
Article
Diversified Cropping Combined with Biochar Application Enhances Soil Fertility, Biodiversity, and Crop Productivity in a Coastal Saline–Alkali Soil
by Xinqi Qiu, Cong Xu, Dong Yan, Weijie Li, Junzhe Wang, Ziqi Yang, Jie Yuan, Cheng Ji, Jidong Wang and Yongchun Zhang
Agriculture 2025, 15(23), 2492; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15232492 - 30 Nov 2025
Viewed by 348
Abstract
Conventional cereal production in coastal saline–alkali drylands is constrained by low productivity and soil degradation. While diversified cropping and biochar application have each been shown to enhance soil quality, the effects of their short-term integration into continuous cereal systems remain unclear, particularly regarding [...] Read more.
Conventional cereal production in coastal saline–alkali drylands is constrained by low productivity and soil degradation. While diversified cropping and biochar application have each been shown to enhance soil quality, the effects of their short-term integration into continuous cereal systems remain unclear, particularly regarding crop yield, soil health, and economic returns. A field experiment was conducted to compare a continuous wheat–maize rotation (W) with systems where one cycle of that was replaced by an alfalfa–sweetpotato (A) or rapeseed–soybean (R) rotation, under biochar-amended and non-amended conditions. Diversified rotations increased subsequent wheat yields by 6.6–16.2%. System A achieved 216% and 439% higher cumulative equivalent yield and economic benefit than System W, respectively. Even without biochar, A and R systems increased soil organic matter content, aggregate stability, and fungal richness by 16.3–21.0%, 20.6–26.5%, and 8.60–10.2%, respectively, compared to W. Biochar further enhanced crop yields by 6.36–16.3% and integrated fertility score by 7.78–9.01%, but its initial cost reduced profitability. Comprehensive evaluation conducted via a weighted model indicated that system A, combined with biochar, achieved the optimal balance among productivity, soil fertility, economics, and microbial diversity. These findings demonstrate that integrating “green” (diversified cropping) and “black” (biochar) strategies offers synergistic benefits for sustainable production in coastal saline–alkali drylands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Salinized Soil Management: Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Productivity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop