Spectroscopy in Modern Agriculture: Current Achievements, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Precision and Digital Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 4

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Earth Observation Directorate, Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, CE, Italy
Interests: plant science; agronomy; environmental biomonitoring; precision agriculture; plant phenotyping

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing (CNR STIIMA), Via Amendola 122 D/O, 70126 Bari, BA, Italy
Interests: plant phenotyping; computer vision; artificial intelligence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing (CNR STIIMA), Via Amendola 122 D/O, 70126 Bari, BA, Italy
Interests: plant phenotyping; computer vision; artificial intelligence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Spectroscopy plays a central role in modern agriculture, offering rapid, non-destructive, and high-precision tools for analyzing soils, crops, and agri-food products. In-field soil properties assessment, real-time monitoring of crop water, nutrient and health status, and agri-food quality assessment throughout the supply chain are just some of the major milestones achieved with the introduction of spectroscopy in agriculture. Furthermore, integration with cutting-edge solutions such as IoT sensors, agri-robots, aerial platforms, and imaging techniques has enabled the transformation of spectral data into operational maps useful for optimizing agricultural management practices. This digital approach, also thanks to the design, development and integration of new and innovative AI-based methodologies, has revolutionized traditional agricultural production, making it more efficient, sustainable, and profitable.

However, significant challenges remain, including lack of standardized protocols, limited and complex data, high costs, and intrinsic difficulties in transferring results to different experimental/environmental conditions. It is therefore necessary to implement multidisciplinary research to develop cost-effective tools and versatile analysis techniques that will make spectroscopy a cornerstone of sustainability and efficiency in future agricultural production. This Special Issue aims to exchange knowledge, ideas, analytical techniques, applications, as well as best practices and experiments that use spectroscopy in the context of agricultural applications.

Dr. Claudia Savarese
Dr. Angelo Cardellicchio
Dr. Vito Renò
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 monthly 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

  • digital agriculture
  • plant and soil spectroscopy
  • imaging techniques
  • crop monitoring
  • plant phenotyping
  • artificial intelligence
  • drones
  • agriculture 4.0
  • proximal and remote sensing in agriculture

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

This special issue is now open for submission.
Back to TopTop