Crop Agronomic Traits and Performances Under Stress

Dear Colleagues,

I. Introduction

As global climate change poses increasing challenges for agricultural productivity, understanding and improving crop resilience to various stress factors has become a top priority for the scientific community. This Special Issue aims to address the critical research area of crop agronomic traits and performances under various stress conditions, and will focus on original research articles, review papers, and short communications that explore the agronomic traits and performances of crops under stress conditions, including but not limited to drought, salinity, extreme temperatures/heat, cold, and nutrient deficiencies. These stress factors significantly impact crop agronomic traits and performances, leading to reduced yields and compromised food security. Contributions should provide insights into the genetic, physiological, and molecular mechanisms underlying crop stress tolerance, and innovative approaches for enhancing crop resilience through breeding, biotechnology, and agronomic management practices.

II. Objectives

The primary objective of this Special Issue is to provide a platform for researchers, scientists, and scholars from diverse disciplines to present their latest research findings on crop agronomic traits and performances under stress conditions. We aim to achieve the following:

1. To elucidate the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms that govern crop tolerance/responses to different stress conditions.
2. To investigate the genetic basis of stress tolerance and identify key genes and pathways involved.
3. To show innovative technologies and strategies for enhancing crop resilience and evaluate the effectiveness of various stress management strategies, including breeding, biotechnology, and agronomic practices.
4. To discuss the challenges and opportunities in improving crop stress tolerance and develop predictive models to forecast future trends.
5. To facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration among researchers in the field.

III. Scope and Topics

This Special Issue will cover a wide range of topics related to crop agronomic traits and performances under stress, including but not limited to the following:

1. Physiological and Biochemical Responses: Studies on photosynthesis, respiration, water relations, nutrient uptake, and hormone regulation under stress conditions.
2. Molecular and Genetic Mechanisms: Research on gene expression, epigenetic modifications, and signaling pathways involved in stress perception and response.
3. Breeding and Genetic Engineering: Advances in conventional breeding techniques and transgenic approaches to develop stress-tolerant crop varieties.
4. Agronomic Practices: Investigations on irrigation management, soil amendments, crop rotation, and other practices that enhance crop resilience.
5. Climate Change and Crop Modeling: Studies on the impact of climate change on crop phenology, yield, and quality, and the development of models to predict future scenarios.
6. Case Studies and Field Trials: Reports on practical applications and field experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of stress mitigation strategies.

IV. Submission Guidelines

1. Manuscript Types: Original research articles, review papers, short communications, and perspectives are welcome.
2. Submission Deadline: [15-June-2026]. All submissions must be made through the journal's online submission system.
3. Formatting: Manuscripts should adhere to the journal's formatting guidelines, including referencing style, figure and table formats, and word count requirements.
4. Peer Review: All submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the quality and relevance of the research.

Dr. Jianrong Ye
Dr. Chao Zhong
Dr. Shengguan Cai
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.

• crop resilience
• crop agronomic traits
• various stress conditions
• crop stress tolerance