Effects of Agrotechnical Factors and Farming Systems on Soil Properties and Plant Productivity—2nd Edition

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 583

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Interests: agricultural systems; organic farming; agrotechnical factors influencing soil properties and fertility; optimization of agronomic practices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Interests: agrotechnics of cereal, root and herbal crops; organic farming; soil properties; quality of agricultural produce
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fertile soil, rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, guarantees high-quality crops. It is also an indicator of the condition of the natural environment, especially in areas and lands subject to anthropopressure. High soil quality is particularly important in sustainable and ecological farming. The level of agricultural technology used, including the type and amount of fertilization, plays an important role in shaping the quality of the soil. Due to the growing consumer demand for high-quality food (including organic food), it is important to properly manage crops, with particular emphasis on the conscious shaping of soil properties. Another important consideration is monitoring the condition of soils subjected to broadly understood anthropopressure. Health monitoring soil can help to guarantee the production of healthy and safe food that is free from chemical contamination and pathogens. To achieve the goals outlined above, knowledge is required about how to improve crop management and soil quality. This knowledge should be widely disseminated not only in the scientific community, but also to agricultural practice, the agricultural advisory industry, processors, and other stakeholders.

The Guest Editors invite submissions on innovative solutions in crop management, with particular emphasis on the fertility and quality of soil, as well as soil condition monitoring. Both original research papers and thematic reviews will be accepted.

Prof. Dr. Cezary A. Kwiatkowski
Dr. Elżbieta Harasim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • farming system versus soil quality
  • crop rotation and agrotechnical factors versus soil quality
  • physical and chemical properties of soil
  • soil biological properties and enzymatic activity
  • soil contamination and soil pathogens
  • soil quality versus yield and quality of agricultural crops
  • soil condition monitoring and anthropopressure

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 5469 KB  
Article
Trade-Offs Between Soil Environmental Impacts and Economic Returns in Optimizing Drip Fertigation for North China Greenhouse Tomatoes
by Lijuan Wang, Hanbo Wang, Tieqiang Wang and Daozhi Gong
Agronomy 2025, 15(10), 2363; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15102363 - 9 Oct 2025
Viewed by 448
Abstract
Balancing soil nitrogen leaching with production benefits remains a critical challenge in sustainable greenhouse tomato cultivation. This study evaluated the effects of reduced water-soluble nitrogen fertilizer (N) application rates on soil environmental parameters and production outcomes to optimize nitrogen management strategies. Four treatments [...] Read more.
Balancing soil nitrogen leaching with production benefits remains a critical challenge in sustainable greenhouse tomato cultivation. This study evaluated the effects of reduced water-soluble nitrogen fertilizer (N) application rates on soil environmental parameters and production outcomes to optimize nitrogen management strategies. Four treatments were implemented across two growing seasons: control (CK), high-N (H), medium-N (M), and low-N (L) nitrogen fertilizer applications in soil solution (SS) and autumn–winter (AW) systems. Results demonstrated that reduced nitrogen inputs significantly decreased soil electrical conductivity and soil nitrogen retention by 88% and 83% in SS and AW, respectively, while reducing soil residual nitrate nitrogen. The tomato yield decreased by 14–26% under low fertilizer treatment, while fruit quality was substantially enhanced, with soluble solid content increasing by 56% in SS and 217% in AW for the L treatment compared to the CK. Nitrogen-use efficiency improved by 54.7% and 34.78% in SS and AW, respectively, demonstrating superior resource utilization under reduced fertilizer applications. Principal component analysis revealed that fruit quality was primarily influenced by soluble solid content, organic acid, total soluble solids, and sugar–acid ratio. Gray relational analysis identified the L treatment (361.62 kg ha−1 in SS and 182.6 kg ha−1 in AW) as optimal for comprehensive performance evaluation. The findings demonstrate that strategic nitrogen reduction effectively balances production benefits with environmental sustainability, providing a practical framework for sustainable nitrogen management in controlled environment agriculture. Full article
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