Boosting Crop Yield Using Water-Saving Soil Management Practices Under Limited Water Resources Conditions
This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
[*] Background and history of this topic: Various water-saving soil management practices (including mulching, conservation tillage and surface soil regulation) have long been adopted to regulate the soil microclimate; however, their agronomic outcomes are highly region-specific, exhibiting marked differences across arid, semi-arid and humid environments.
[*] Aim and scope of the Special Issue: This Special Issue aims to compile research that elucidates how diverse water-saving soil management practices influence soil hydrothermal dynamics, as well as their cascading effects on crop yield, quality and water use efficiency, across a broad range of agroecological zones (especially saline–alkali areas or arid and semi-arid regions).
[*] Cutting-edge research: We particularly encourage studies on innovative soil water conservation techniques, hydrothermal simulation modeling and crop physiological responses to modified soil thermal-moisture regimes.
[*] What kind of papers we are soliciting: We invite original research, comprehensive reviews and meta-analyses that provide regional comparisons, evaluate novel water-saving soil management approaches or offer mechanistic insights into yield–quality–WUE trade-offs.
Dr. Chitao Sun
Dr. Qian Zhang
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-anonymized 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
- water-use efficiency
- covered cultivation
- green water saving
- water-saving evaluation
- mulching materials
- soil environment
- crop water consumption
- irrigation method
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.

