Agronomic Management of Crops in Arid and Semi-arid Environments

Dear Colleagues,

The global arid and semi-arid area accounts for about 36% of the total land area, hosting more than 80 countries and 40% of the global population. Abundant soil and photothermal resources are found in arid and semi-arid areas, which are the main food production regions. However, the agricultural production in these areas is limited by drought, infertility, soil erosion, etc. Traditional agronomic management approaches (including excessive application of chemical fertilizers, shallow ploughing and monoculture) have greatly affected the agroecosystems in arid and semi-arid areas through soil degradation, soil nutrient loss, water pollution, etc. The imbalance between agricultural production and the environment seriously hinders the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions. Recently, many agronomic management approaches have been proposed to promote crop production and improve farmland environments in arid and semi-arid regions, i.e., film mulching, organic matter application, fertilizer reduction, straw return, intercropping, water-efficient irrigation and conservation tillage. Thus, we need to reveal the mechanisms of these management approaches on crop production and the environment, and to explore the synergistic effect on production and ecological functioning in arid and semi-arid areas. For this reason, we welcome high-quality interdisciplinary studies on the agronomic management of crops to address the contradiction between production and the environment in arid and semi-arid areas.

Dr. Peng Zhang
Dr. Wenyi Dong
Guest Editors

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