Plant-Derived Bioactive Products for Sustainable Pest Control and Crop Protection
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 216
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biology, ecology, and secondary metabolism of Trichoderma spp. as biocontrol agents; fungal plant pathogens (Fusarium, Colletotrichum); molecular and genetic mechanisms of plant–fungus interactions; biological and ecological control of mycotoxigenic fungi; genome editing and functional genomics of beneficial and pathogenic fungi; sustainable and microbiome-based approaches to crop and postharvest disease management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: essential oils and bioactive natural products; postharvest pest management; insect behavioral ecology; active food packaging; resistance to botanical insecticides; microbiome-based detoxification in insects
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The overreliance on synthetic pesticides has accelerated the emergence of resistant pest populations, environmental contamination, and human health concerns, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable crop protection strategies. Plant-derived bioactive products (including essential oils and extracts) are powerful “green” tools that can reduce chemical inputs and support ecological balance.
This Special Issue, titled “Plant-Derived Bioactive Products for Sustainable Pest Control and Crop Protection,” aims to showcase recent advances in natural-product-based approaches for integrated pest and disease management. We welcome studies addressing both insect and pathogen control in pre-harvest (field) and post-harvest (storage and packaging) systems. In particular, we encourage contributions focusing on mechanisms of action, innovative formulations, resistance management, and plant–microbe–insect interactions. Original research and review articles are invited to highlight cutting-edge advances driving the transition toward residue-free, environmentally safe, and evolutionarily resilient agriculture.
Dr. Sabrina Sarrocco
Dr. Prangthip Parichanon
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. Agronomy 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
- plant-derived bioactive products
- essential oils
- biological control
- resistance management
- postharvest protection
- plant–microbe–insect interactions
- sustainable agriculture
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