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Agriculture
Special Issues
Tillage Equipment Management and Its Effects on Grain Crop Productivity
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Tillage Equipment Management and Its Effects on Grain Crop Productivity

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 11 July 2026 | Viewed by 1438

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shuhong Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: conservation tillage; agricultural machinery; mechanical research; soil-machine; stubble removal; deep plowing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jinyou Qiao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: theories; methods and applications of coordinated optimization in agricultural mechanization systems; mechanisms and applications of the interactions among “agricultural machinery, soil and crops”

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the growth of the global population and increasing food demand, soil tillage equipment and management methods play a crucial role in enhancing food production capacity and ensuring food security. This Special Issue aims to explore the mechanisms, patterns and effects of soil tillage equipment and its management technologies on improving the productivity of various food crops, emphasizing the application of modern agricultural equipment technologies to enhance agricultural production efficiency and promote high-quality sustainable development. This collection will gather cutting-edge results from various disciplines to provide new insights and solutions for the application and management of tillage equipment.

The primary objective of this Special Issue is to assemble cutting-edge research on tillage equipment, exploring how advanced management systems and technological innovations can enhance agricultural productivity, optimize resource utilization and increase overall efficacy. The scope encompasses innovative research and technological integration related to soil cultivation, seedbed preparation, pre-plant fertilization, straw incorporation and other relevant production processes. Furthermore, it includes investigations into intelligent tillage equipment production, monitoring technologies and crop growth assessment systems.

We encourage the submission of original research articles, with a particular focus on novel sensor technologies, advanced machine learning algorithms, equipment coordination and field validation methodologies. Studies that evaluate the economic benefits, environmental impacts and scalability of tillage management practices are also of substantial interest.

We are looking for the following papers:

This Special Issue welcomes original research papers, comprehensive reviews and case studies that highlight significant advancements in the management of tillage equipment and its contributions to enhancing food crop productivity. We particularly encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and discourse among agricultural sciences, engineering technologies and management studies.

Prof. Dr. Shuhong Zhao
Prof. Dr. Jinyou Qiao
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

  • tillage equipment
  • agricultural productivity
  • management technologies
  • interdisciplinary collaboration
  • soil tillage

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 7737 KB  
Article
CFD–DEM-Based Analysis and Optimization of Biomimetic Jet Hole Design for Pneumatic Subsoiling Performance
by Shuhong Zhao, Changle Jiang, Xize Liu, Yueqian Yang, Mingxuan Du, Bin Lü and Shoukun Dong
Agriculture 2026, 16(9), 949; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16090949 - 25 Apr 2026
Viewed by 645
Abstract
Subsoiling can break the plough pan and improve the root growth environment. The effect of the traditional subsoiler is poor, as it relies only on the chisel tine, but pneumatic subsoiling can improve the soil structure more efficiently through the negative pressure generated [...] Read more.
Subsoiling can break the plough pan and improve the root growth environment. The effect of the traditional subsoiler is poor, as it relies only on the chisel tine, but pneumatic subsoiling can improve the soil structure more efficiently through the negative pressure generated by the jet hole. This research used computational fluid dynamics and the discrete element method to optimize the biomimetic structure of the jet hole, model the pneumatic subsoiling process at a depth of 330 mm, and observe the movement of soil particles as airflow passes through. The effect of the jet hole at different positions and sizes on the plough pan soil was analyzed, and fluid domains and measurement areas were set up to observe the upward movement, diffusion, stabilization, and settling of soil particles under the action of airflow. The results of the soil bin experiment validated the accuracy of the simulation model through draft force and vertical force, and the average error between the simulation and experimental data was 2.8%. The study revealed that the increase in the rate of soil porosity reached a maximum of 3.65% when the jet hole was positioned above the chisel tine with a radius of 4 mm. The biomimetic jet hole pneumatic subsoiler designed in this study, along with the established CFD-DEM coupled simulation model capable of predicting pneumatic subsoiling performance, can provide references for the design and application of a pneumatic subsoiler. Furthermore, it also provides a theoretical basis for understanding the mechanism of airflow on soil during pneumatic subsoiling operations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tillage Equipment Management and Its Effects on Grain Crop Productivity)
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27 pages, 18988 KB  
Article
Design and Test of the 1LFT-450D Variable Width Reversible Plough with Resistance Reduction Function
by Aolong Geng, Xinyang Lou, Jun Wang, Kui Zhang, Yu Deng, Qi Wang and Jinwu Wang
Agriculture 2026, 16(8), 855; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16080855 - 12 Apr 2026
Viewed by 505
Abstract
To address the issues of high working power consumption and poor structural stability of current ploughing equipment under conditions of straw coverage and heavy clay soil, a 1LFT-450D variable width reversible plough (VWRP) with resistance reduction function is designed. Based on the shark [...] Read more.
To address the issues of high working power consumption and poor structural stability of current ploughing equipment under conditions of straw coverage and heavy clay soil, a 1LFT-450D variable width reversible plough (VWRP) with resistance reduction function is designed. Based on the shark shield scale, a bionic resistance reduction plough body was designed. Through theoretical analysis, the turnover mechanism (TM) and the working width adjustment mechanism (WWAM) were designed, and their main structural parameters were determined. Further research was conducted on key components using simulation software. The discrete element method (DEM) simulation results indicated that arranging bionic ribs on the plough breast achieved the best resistance reduction effect compared with the ploughshare tip and ploughshare. Meanwhile, relative to the conventional plough body, the designed bionic plough body exhibited average reductions in resistance and energy consumption of 12.55% and 12.34%, respectively. The soil bin test further verified the resistance reduction performance of the designed bionic plough body. The kinematic performance of the TM and the WWAM was analyzed using RecurDyn, and their reliability and stability were verified through the mechanism performance test. The results of the field operation performance test showed that under the conditions of forward speed of 8–10 km·h−1 and working width of 1320–2000 mm, the operation performance of the designed VWRP satisfied the requirements of relevant standards. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the resistance reduction optimization of agricultural machinery soil-engaging parts and the design of new ploughs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tillage Equipment Management and Its Effects on Grain Crop Productivity)
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