Announcements

The editorial team would like to congratulate the winners of the Agronomy 10th Anniversary Best Paper Award, who were chosen by a Selection Committee chaired by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Peter Langridge. Following a review process by the Evaluation Committee, six winners were selected. The winners of the “Agronomy 10th Anniversary Best Paper Award” are as follows:

Article:

The First Award: (800 CHF + a certificate)

Long-Term Effects of Biochar-Based Organic Amendments on Soil Microbial Parameters
Martin Brtnicky, Tereza Dokulilova, Jiri Holatko, Vaclav Pecina, Antonin Kintl, Oldrich Latal, Tomas Vyhnanek, Jitka Prichystalova and Rahul Datta
Agronomy 2019, 9(11), 747; doi:10.3390/agronomy9110747
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/11/747
“It was a very pleasant experience to publish the present work with the cooperation of Agronomy. I appreciate being able to work with a high-quality professional team at Agronomy, who rapidly moved us through the review and proof correction process. I hope more and more influential articles will be published in Agronomy in the future.”

The Second Award: (600 CHF + a certificate)

Effect of Gibberellic Acid on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Leaf Lettuce and Rocket Grown in a Floating System
Alessandro Miceli, Alessandra Moncada, Leo Sabatino and Filippo Vetrano
Agronomy 2019, 9(7), 382; doi:10.3390/agronomy9070382
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/7/382
“I’m very honored to accept The Second Award of Agronomy 10th Anniversary Best Paper Awards.  I accept this award on behalf of the co-authors who helped in preparing the paper. I would like to thank the colleagues of SAAF department of the University of Palermo who supported the efforts for developing this research, the Editors and the reviewers of Agronomy for their suggestions that helped to improve the article, all the readers of Agronomy who have spent their time in reading this article and, of course, my family.”

The Third Award: (300 CHF + a certificate)

Biomass Prediction of Heterogeneous Temperate Grasslands Using an SfM Approach Based on UAV Imaging
Esther Grüner, Thomas Astor and Michael Wachendorf
Agronomy 2019, 9(2), 54; doi:10.3390/agronomy9020054
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/2/54

“Thank you very much for selecting our paper for the „The Third Award of Agronomy 10th Anniversary Best Paper Awards“. I feel very honored and would also like to thank those who have supported my collegues and me to achieve this goal. It means a lot to us that the innovative topic of remote sensing is becoming increasingly important in agriculture and that we have been able to make our contribution.”

Review:

The First Award: (800 CHF + a certificate)

Plant Biostimulants: Importance of the Quality and Yield of Horticultural Crops and the Improvement of Plant Tolerance to Abiotic Stress—A Review
Magdalena Drobek, Magdalena Frąc and Justyna Cybulska
Agronomy 2019, 9(6), 335; doi:10.3390/agronomy9060335
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/6/335
“It is a big honor to obtain such eminent distinction. We are very grateful to Agronomy Editorial Office for selection our review article from between other excellent publications. I believe that our work will make a contribution to the broad recognizability of Agronomy journal. We also hope that our review about the influence of biostimulants on the quality of fruit and vegetables will help in spreading knowledge about scientific evidences of advantageous features of such agents and application of biostimulants will becoming popular between fruit and vegetable planters.”

The Second Award: (600 CHF + a certificate)

Increasing Sustainability of Growing Media Constituents and Stand-Alone Substrates in Soilless Culture Systems
Nazim S. Gruda
Agronomy 2019, 9(6), 298; doi:10.3390/agronomy9060298
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/6/298
"This award is a recognition for soilless culture and shows us how vital such systems in today horticulture are. Soilless culture is the key component of more intensive yet sustainable agriculture. We need research in crucial areas such as precision cultivation of high-quality products, and novel, environmental-friendly and climate-smart growing media to realise its potential. The interaction with well-qualified, independent reviewers within the fast track of the journal is appreciated. Hopefully, more papers on this topic will be published in Agronomy in the future."

The Third Award: (300 CHF + a certificate)

Microalgal Biostimulants and Biofertilisers in Crop Productions
Domenico Ronga, Elisa Biazzi, Katia Parati, Domenico Carminati, Elio Carminati and Aldo Tava
Agronomy 2019, 9(4), 192; doi:10.3390/agronomy9040192
Available Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/4/192
“I am extremely honoured to be receiving this important award ‘The Third Award of Agronomy 10th Anniversary Best Paper Awards’. I am earnestly grateful for the recognition I have received for my work, regarding the valorisation and the use of microalgae as biostimulants and biofertilisers in crop productions.”

Please join us in congratulating the winners of the Agronomy 10th Anniversary Best Paper Award. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our authors for their continued support of Agronomy.

Editor-in-Chief,
Prof. Dr. Peter Langridge, Agronomy