Advances in Water Use and Nutrient Uptake Mechanism of Crops under Environmental Change

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Use and Irrigation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 5146

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: biological water-saving irrigation; plant water and nutrient management; crop quality; climate change

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Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegaard Allé 13, 2630 Taastrup, Denmark
Interests: crop water relations; water-saving irrigation; water and nutrients management in crop production
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Guest Editor
Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: plant ecophysiology at different levels; plant-water-environment interactions; plant stress biology; precision and smart agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the industrial revolution, various environmental challenges have emerged following the intensification of anthropogenic activities, such as a shortage of fresh water resources and the degradation of arable soils. This would significantly influence the productivity and quality of crops, as well as food safety around the world. To date, tremendous efforts have made to understand the responses of crop water and nutrient acquisition to the changed environment at varied scales. However, the mechanisms of crop water use and nutrient uptake in the soil–crop– atmosphere continuum as influenced by abiotic variables remain largely elusive, particularly the interactions between the genotype, environment, and management, and the field management practices that could potentially enhance the crops’ efficient use of water and nutrients need to be developed.

This research topic aims to gather leading studies on reasonable and efficient crop water and/or nutrient utilization under changing environments (drought, heat, and CO2 elevation) and different irrigation and fertilization techniques (deficit irrigation, reduced fertilization, soil amendment, etc.). We wish to collect original research, meta-analysis articles, and reviews/mini-reviews related to this topic to provide novel insights into the mechanism of crop plants in response to environmental factors and management strategies for achieving the sustainable production of crops in future climate change scenarios.

Dr. Zhenhua Wei
Prof. Dr. Fulai Liu
Prof. Dr. Yaosheng Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • water use
  • nutrient uptake
  • utilization efficiency
  • crop production
  • management strategy
  • environmental change

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 2278 KiB  
Article
Effect of Partial Root-Zone Irrigation on Plant Growth, Root Morphological Traits and Leaf Elemental Stoichiometry of Tomato under Elevated CO2
by Guiyu Wei, Xiangnan Xu, Bingjing Cui, Manyi Zhang, Jie Liu, Zhenhua Wei and Fulai Liu
Agronomy 2023, 13(12), 3069; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13123069 - 15 Dec 2023
Viewed by 673
Abstract
The increasing CO2 concentration ([CO2]) in the atmosphere decreases mineral nutrients concentration in crops, whereas it increases water use efficiency (WUE). Partial root-zone irrigation (PRI) could not only increase WUE but also improve plant nutrient status. Yet the effect of [...] Read more.
The increasing CO2 concentration ([CO2]) in the atmosphere decreases mineral nutrients concentration in crops, whereas it increases water use efficiency (WUE). Partial root-zone irrigation (PRI) could not only increase WUE but also improve plant nutrient status. Yet the effect of PRI combined with elevated CO2 concentration (e[CO2]) on the element stoichiometry of tomato leaves remains unknown. This study sought to investigate the responses of leaf mineral nutrients status and element stoichiometric ratios in tomatoes to PRI combined with e[CO2]. Tomato plants (cv. Ailsa Craig) were grown in pots in climate-controlled growth chambers with ambient [CO2] (a[CO2], 400ppm) and elevated [CO2] (e[CO2], 800ppm), respectively. Three irrigation regimes, i.e., full irrigation (FI), deficit irrigation (DI) and PRI, were applied to tomato plants at the flowering stage. The results showed that plants grown under DI and PRI had a similar biomass, enhanced root growth including greater root to shoot ratio, root length, surface area, volume and specific length, and an improved WUE in comparison with FI under e[CO2]. Additionally, under e[CO2], PRI showed an increase in leaf [C](+1.5%) and [N] (+9.3%), no decrease in leaf [K], [Ca], [Mg], [S] and [15N], but a decrease in leaf C/N (−6.6%) as compared with FI. Conclusively, PRI had the ability to improve leaf N concentration, maintain most leaf mineral nutrient concentrations, and optimize or maintain leaf element stoichiometric ratios under e[CO2]. Therefore, PRI would be a practicable mode of irrigation for optimizing WUE and nutrient status in tomato leaves in a future freshwater-limited and higher-CO2 environment. Full article
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12 pages, 286 KiB  
Article
Biofertilizers Improve the Plant Growth, Yield, and Mineral Concentration of Lettuce and Broccoli
by Halil Demir, İlker Sönmez, Ufuk Uçan and İsmail Hakkı Akgün
Agronomy 2023, 13(8), 2031; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13082031 - 31 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3980
Abstract
Biofertilizers and organic fertilizers are eco-friendly treatments that reduce the consumption and problems associated with chemical fertilizers. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of biofertilizers and organic fertilizers on reducing consumption and improving the effectiveness of chemical fertilizer treatments [...] Read more.
Biofertilizers and organic fertilizers are eco-friendly treatments that reduce the consumption and problems associated with chemical fertilizers. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of biofertilizers and organic fertilizers on reducing consumption and improving the effectiveness of chemical fertilizer treatments by comparing the growth parameters, yield, quality criteria, and nutrient concentration in lettuce and broccoli grown under greenhouse conditions. The biofertilizer (BM-MegaFlu®) comprised Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Pantoea agglomerans bacteria. The experiment consisted of six treatments comprising (1) biofertilizer (BF), (2) chemical fertilizer + biofertilizer (CF + BF), (3) chemical fertilizer (CF), (4) CF (1/2 dose) + BF, (5) CF (1/3 dose) + BF, and (6) organic fertilizer (OF + BF). BF did not adversely affect the head height and root collar diameter of lettuce; on the contrary, it showed non-significant differences with CF + BF, BF, CF (1/2) + BF, and CF (1/3) + BF treatments and CF alone. The highest total and marketable yields were obtained from CF + BF, CF, CF (1/2) + BF treatments in lettuce. The total yield was the highest in the CF + BF, CF, CF (1/2) + BF, and CF (1/3) + BF treatments in broccoli. In conclusion, the biofertilizer had a supportive effect on the use of chemical fertilizers in lettuce and broccoli production, especially the CF (1/2) + BF treatment in lettuce. The CF (1/2) + BF and CF (1/3) + BF treatments in broccoli showed similar yields to CF. In both crops, BF could provide 50% chemical fertilizer savings. Full article
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