Composting as a Key Driver for Sustainable Agricultural Scenarios—3rd Editon

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 455

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Universidad Miguel Hernández, EPS-Orihuela, Ctra. Beniel Km 3.2, 03312 Orihuela, Spain
Interests: organic waste management; compost; organic fertilization; co-composting; soil quality; sustainable agriculture; climate change mitigation; soil organic matter; soilless growing media
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Escuela Politécnica Superior de Orihuela (EPSO), Universidad Miguel Hernández, EPS-Orihuela, Ctra. Beniel Km 3.2, 03312 Orihuela, Spain
Interests: composting; waste management; soil quality

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Carretera de Beniel Km 3,2, 03312 Orihuela, Alicante, Spain
Interests: solid waste management; agroecology; organic farming; soil fertility; composting sustainability; soil analysis; agronomy; soil science; enzyme activity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, agriculture faces the challenge of securing production for an increasing human population, but also including environmental and sustainability aspects, reducing the use of non-renewable resources and energy and favoring climate change mitigation. Composting cannot be considered a new technology—it makes possible not only the management of organic wastes but also the optimization of the resources contained within them as well as reductions in the greenhouse effect associated with soil organic matter. However, depending on the organic wastes used and processes developed, compost can also be a route of entry into the environment for contaminants. Thus, it is crucial to acknowledge the links between organic waste management, compost quality, and the sustainable biomass production required both for food security and the wider bioeconomy.

This Special Issue aims to study the strategies for compost production from different types of organic wastes, compost quality, and the use of compost in different agricultural scenarios to achieve sustainable crop production and to ensure the sustainability of agricultural systems. Original research, reviews, or opinions on the composting of different organic waste fractions are welcome, with a special focus on compost quality and on the role of compost in sustainable agriculture, effects on C sequestration, soil quality, and conservation in different environments.

Dr. Maria Angeles Bustamante Muñoz
Dr. Encarnación Martínez-Sabater
Dr. Luciano Orden
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • compost quality
  • organic waste management
  • soil fertility
  • soil quality
  • C sequestration
  • organic fertilization
  • soilless substrates
  • agricultural soils
  • nutrient recovery
  • climate change mitigation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 728 KiB  
Article
Agronomic Use of Urban Composts from Decentralized Composting Scenarios: Implications for a Horticultural Crop and Soil Properties
by Cristina Álvarez-Alonso, María Dolores Pérez-Murcia, Natalia Manrique, F. Javier Andreu-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel Mira-Urios, Ignacio Irigoyen, Marga López, Luciano Orden, Raúl Moral, Isabel Nogués and María Ángeles Bustamante
Agronomy 2025, 15(7), 1520; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15071520 - 22 Jun 2025
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Abstract
Circular economy in the context of municipal organic waste management has boosted the emergence of novel composting scenarios, such as community composting and decentralized urban composting in small installations, which favors localized management and valorization of organic waste streams. However, there is little [...] Read more.
Circular economy in the context of municipal organic waste management has boosted the emergence of novel composting scenarios, such as community composting and decentralized urban composting in small installations, which favors localized management and valorization of organic waste streams. However, there is little information about the agronomic use of the composts obtained from these new organic waste management systems as an alternative for inorganic fertilization in crop production. In this work, municipal solid waste-derived composts from two decentralized composting scenarios (CM1 and CM2 from community composting, and CM3 and CM4 from decentralized urban small-scale composting plants) were applied and mixed in the top layer of a calcareous clayey-loam soil to assess their effects as alternative substitutes for conventional soil inorganic fertilization (IN) during two successive cultivation cycles of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in pots with the amended soils. These treatments were also compared with an organic waste (goat–rabbit manure, E) and a control treatment without fertilization (B). The effects of the fertilizing treatments on the crop yield and quality, as well as on the properties of the soil considered were studied. In general, the application of the different composts did not produce negative effects on lettuce yield and quality. The compost-derived fertilization showed similar lettuce yields compared to the inorganic and manure-derived fertilizations (IN and E, respectively), and higher yields than the soil without amendment (B), with increases in the initial yield values of B, for the first cycle from 34.2% for CM1 to 53.8% for CM3, and from 20.3% for CM3 to 92.4% for CM1 in the second cycle. Furthermore, the organically amended soils showed a better crop development, obtaining higher values than the control treatment in the parameters studied. In addition, the incorporation of the organic treatments improved the soil characteristics, leading to 1.3 and 1.2 times higher organic matter contents in the soils with CM2 and in the soils with CM1, CM3, and E, respectively, compared to the control soil without fertilizing treatment (B), and 2.0 and 1.8 times greater organic matter contents, respectively, compared to soil with inorganic fertilization (IN). Therefore, the use of municipal solid waste-derived composts from these new organic waste management systems, such as the decentralized composting scenarios studied (community composting and urban decentralized small-scale composting plants), is presented, not only as a sustainable valorization method, but also as an alternative for the use of inorganic fertilizers in lettuce cultivation, while enhancing soil properties, contributing to increasing the circularity of agriculture. Full article
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