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Agronomy
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Farming in Harmony with Nature
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Farming in Harmony with Nature

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agroecology Innovation: Achieving System Resilience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 15139

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jinfei Feng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 310006, China
Interests: environmentally friendly cropping system; nutrient recycling and its environmental effects
Prof. Dr. Yu Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology Ecology and Production Management, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Interests: greenhouse gas emissions; climate change; food security; rice; cropping system

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dominating nature to achieve the highest production for the food supply of the rapidly growing world population has been the main goal of agriculture farming since its origin about 10,000 years ago. However, the excessive pursuit of the highest production has induced serious negative impacts on the natural environment, such as soil deterioration, declining groundwater quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and diminished biodiversity, which can destroy the sustainability of agriculture and cause food crises in future. Farming in harmony with nature, rather than attempting to dominate nature, is a key issue to prompt the sustainable development of modern agriculture.

This Special Issue encourages the submission of high-quality research articles and reviews covering recent advances in the innovation of farming practices and economical measures to promote the harmony of agriculture with nature.

Potential topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Improvement in the agronomy practices, including plant breeding, water and nutrients management, and plant protection, to reduce the negative impacts on the soil, water, and air environment;
  • Novel environmentally friendly farming system;
  • The mutual relationship between agriculture and nature;
  • Economical and management measures promote the harmony of agriculture with nature.

Dr. Jinfei Feng
Prof. Dr. Yu Jiang
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • environmentally friendly agriculture
  • organic farming
  • conservation cropping
  • climate-smart cultivation
  • negative environmental effects
  • ecological compensation
  • sustainable development

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 9379 KiB  
Article
Effects of Shredded Paper Mulch on Komatsuna Spinach under Three Soil Moisture Levels
by May Myat Mon and Hiroki Oue
Agronomy 2023, 13(10), 2502; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13102502 - 28 Sep 2023
Viewed by 2043
Abstract
Mulch has been considered effective for saving water and promoting plant growth. However, little has been investigated about the effect of mulch from recycled shredded paper under different soil moisture conditions on spinach growth. A pot-grown Komatsuna spinach experiment with a factorial design [...] Read more.
Mulch has been considered effective for saving water and promoting plant growth. However, little has been investigated about the effect of mulch from recycled shredded paper under different soil moisture conditions on spinach growth. A pot-grown Komatsuna spinach experiment with a factorial design was conducted under two main conditions, with and without shredded paper mulch. Each of these conditions was treated with three different soil moisture levels (SWC) 20%, 25%, and 30%. The smallest evapotranspiration amount was in the mulch-only, no-plant treatment with SWC 20% (92.88 mm), and the largest was in the plant-only, no-mulch treatment (226.19 mm). All biomass yield attributions were negatively influenced by increasing the frequency of irrigation and SWC levels. SWC 20% with shredded mulch resulted in the largest dry matter, although it was statistically non-significant. But it resulted in taller plant heights and a larger leaf area index (LAI) compared to soil with no shredded mulch (p < 0.05). For SWC 25% and 30% treatments, Komatsuna spinach with no shredded mulch resulted in slightly superior plant dry matter and plant height, compared to mulched plants. These results suggest that SWC 20% with shredded paper mulch has the highest potential for saving water among all treatments for growing spinach under limited water availability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farming in Harmony with Nature)
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13 pages, 2433 KiB  
Article
Towards Improved Grain Yield and Soil Microbial Communities of Super Hybrid Rice through Sustainable Management
by Jiayu Ye, Xuefen Zhong, Matthew Tom Harrison, Kai Kang, Tian Sheng, Cheng Shang, Chunhu Wang, Jun Deng, Liying Huang, Xiaohai Tian, Ke Liu and Yunbo Zhang
Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2259; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092259 - 28 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1795
Abstract
Superior yields of super hybrid rice have demonstrably contributed to contemporary food security. Despite this, the extent to which intensive nitrogen fertilizer requirements of such crops have impacted on soil health and microbial communities primarily remains unchartered territory, evoking questions of sustainability. Here, [...] Read more.
Superior yields of super hybrid rice have demonstrably contributed to contemporary food security. Despite this, the extent to which intensive nitrogen fertilizer requirements of such crops have impacted on soil health and microbial communities primarily remains unchartered territory, evoking questions of sustainability. Here, we examine how four management treatments (zero fertilizer, CK; farm practice, FP; high-yield and high-efficiency, HYHE; and super-high-yield management, SHY) influenced the grain yields, soil biodiversity and community strata underpinning soil health of an elite super hybrid rice variety (Y-liangyou 900). We show that SHY treatments increased yields, altered soil physicochemical properties, and fostered greater biodiversity and soil bacteria and fungi abundance, while FP, HYHE and SHY treatments transformed community bacteria and fungi strata. Environmental regulators of bacterial and fungal communities differed widely, with bacterial communities most closely associated with soil organic carbon (SOC) and NH4+-N, and with fungal communities more related to available phosphorus. We show that alpha diversity of bacteria and fungi and community composition of fungi were positively correlated with yield, but bacterial community composition was negatively correlated with yield. Our work clearly exemplifies the nexus between appropriate farm and landscape management in enabling soil health and driving consistently high yields, of which both are required for sustainable food security. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farming in Harmony with Nature)
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21 pages, 20501 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Long-Term Application of Stabilized and Coated Urea on Soil Chemical Properties, Microbial Community Structure, and Functional Genes in Paddy Fields
by Yiji Zhang, Dongpo Li, Ke Zhang, Furong Xiao, Yonghua Li, Yandi Du, Yan Xue, Lili Zhang, Ping Gong, Yuchao Song and Kaikuo Wu
Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2190; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092190 - 22 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3205
Abstract
The addition of fertilizers is indispensable in agricultural production, and currently, there is a wide variety of new types of fertilizers available. For example, commonly used are stabilized fertilizers with inhibitors and coated slow-release fertilizers, among others. However, the long-term effects of these [...] Read more.
The addition of fertilizers is indispensable in agricultural production, and currently, there is a wide variety of new types of fertilizers available. For example, commonly used are stabilized fertilizers with inhibitors and coated slow-release fertilizers, among others. However, the long-term effects of these fertilizers, when applied continuously are still uncertain. This study will provide scientific and theoretical support for the development and promotion of these fertilizers. A 16-year paddy field with brown soil treated with different urease and nitrification inhibitors, sulfur-coated urea (SCU), and resin-coated urea (PCU) was studied. The study showed that long-term use of conventional urea nitrogen fertilizer resulted in a significant reduction in soil total phosphorus (TP). Long-term application of NBPT and conventional urea significantly increased soil organic matter (SOM). Moreover, except for HQ and NBPT+DMPP, the prolonged application of new urea fertilizers also significantly enhanced soil total potassium (TK). Application of SCU fertilizer in brown soil type paddy fields resulted in a significant decrease in soil pH over time. However, changes in pH had no effect on the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), as AOB was mainly affected by soil-available N. DMPP, HQ+DCD, NBPT+DMPP, SCU, and PCU significantly reduced the 16S rRNA gene copy number of soil bacteria, with the greatest effect of coated urea fertilizer (SCU and PCU). Long-term application of stable urea fertilizer with HQ significantly reduced the bacterial community in paddy soil. Conversely, HQ+DCD-stabilizede urea fertilizer significantly increased the population structure and abundance of Basidiomycota fungi while decreasing the population structure and abundance of Rozellomycota fungi. DMPP-stabilized urea fertilizer notably increased the population structure and abundance of Ascomycota fungi while decreasing the population structure and abundance of Rozellomycota and Chytridiomycota fungi. Furthermore, HQ-stabilized urea fertilizer significantly reduced the population structure and abundance of Chytridiomycota fungi. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farming in Harmony with Nature)
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12 pages, 3610 KiB  
Article
Effects of Vegetable–Fish Co-Culture on CH4 and N2O Emissions from an Aquaculture Pond
by Ting Bao, Xiaodan Wang, Fuping Fang, Jinfei Feng and Fengbo Li
Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1230; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051230 - 27 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2042
Abstract
Freshwater aquaculture is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions are expected to lead to global warming and climate change. A reduction in GHG emissions is urgently required for the sustainable development of freshwater aquaculture. In this study, a laboratory-scale [...] Read more.
Freshwater aquaculture is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions are expected to lead to global warming and climate change. A reduction in GHG emissions is urgently required for the sustainable development of freshwater aquaculture. In this study, a laboratory-scale experiment was conducted to analyze the effects of a vegetable–fish co-culture on CH4 and N2O emissions from a freshwater aquaculture pond. The results show that the co-culturing of yellow catfish with pak choi (PC-F) or water spinach (WS-F) significantly reduced the N2O emission from the aquaculture pond by 60.20% and 67.71%, respectively, as compared with a yellow catfish monoculture (F). However, the co-culture of these two vegetables did not affect the level of CH4 emissions. The reduction in N2O emissions was primarily attributed to the decrease in the concentration of N2O and NO3− in the water. The overall global warming potential (GWP) of CH4 and N2O was significantly reduced by 19.1% with PC-F compared to F, but it did not significantly differ between WS-F and F. PC and WS cultivation improved the food yield by 1555.52% and 419.95% compared to F, respectively. Consequently, the GHG emissions intensity (GHGI) under PC-F and WS-F decreased by 96.15% and 80.77% compared to F, respectively. Altogether, the results highlight that a vegetable–fish co-culture is likely an efficient system for mitigating GWP per unit of food yield in freshwater aquaculture ponds. These results can provide a reference for the mitigation of GHG emissions from freshwater aquaculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farming in Harmony with Nature)
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14 pages, 1959 KiB  
Article
Product Type, Rice Variety, and Agronomic Measures Determined the Efficacy of Enhanced-Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizer on the CH4 Emission and Rice Yields in Paddy Fields: A Meta-Analysis
by Tong Yang, Mengjie Wang, Xiaodan Wang, Chunchun Xu, Fuping Fang and Fengbo Li
Agronomy 2022, 12(10), 2240; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12102240 - 20 Sep 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2750
Abstract
Enhanced-efficiency nitrogen fertilizer (EENF) is a recommend nitrogen fertilizer for rice production because of its advantage on improving nitrogen use efficiency. However, its efficacy on CH4, the dominant greenhouse gas, emission from rice fields showed great variation under field conditions. And [...] Read more.
Enhanced-efficiency nitrogen fertilizer (EENF) is a recommend nitrogen fertilizer for rice production because of its advantage on improving nitrogen use efficiency. However, its efficacy on CH4, the dominant greenhouse gas, emission from rice fields showed great variation under field conditions. And the factors influencing its efficacy are still unclear. We synthesized the results of 46 field studies and analyzed the impact of product type, rice variety, and primary agronomic measures (rice cropping system, nitrogen (N) application rate, and water management options) on the effectiveness of EENF on the CH4 emission and rice yield. Overall, EENF, including inhibitors (IS) and slow/control-released fertilizer (S/CRF), significantly reduced CH4 emission by 16.2% and increased rice yield by 7.3%, resulting in a significant reduction in yield-scaled CH4 by 21.7%, compared with conventional N fertilizer. Nitrapyrin, DMPP (3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate), and HQ (Hydroquinone) + Nitrapyrin showed relative higher efficacy on the mitigation of CH4 emission than other EENF products; and HQ showed relative lower efficacy on rice yield than other EENF products. The reduction in CH4 emission response of hybrid rice varieties to IS and S/CRF was greater than that of inbred rice varieties. IS significantly reduced the CH4 emission and increased the rice yield under all three rice cropping systems, and showed the highest efficacy in the late rice season of double rice cropping system. Whereas, S/CRF did not significantly reduce the CH4 emission from rice seasons of single rice cropping system and rice-upland crops rotation system. IS did not reduce the CH4 emission when N application rate less than 100 kg ha−1, and S/CRF did not affect the CH4 emission when N application rate less than 100 kg ha−1 or above 200 kg ha−1. Continuous flooding was unfavorable for IS and S/CRF to mitigate CH4 emission and enhance rice yield. These results emphasized the necessary to link EENF products with rice varieties and agronomic practices to assess their efficacy on CH4 emissions and rice yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farming in Harmony with Nature)
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14 pages, 551 KiB  
Article
Differential Physiological Response and Potential Toxicological Risk of White Cabbage Grown in Zinc-Spiked Soil
by Renata Bączek-Kwinta and Jacek Antonkiewicz
Agronomy 2022, 12(9), 2186; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12092186 - 15 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2064
Abstract
Physiological, agricultural and toxicological impact of an excess of Zn in the soil is an important issue, as Zn is a heavy metal and impairs many processes of plants and animals. The novelty of this work is that it is a comprehensive approach [...] Read more.
Physiological, agricultural and toxicological impact of an excess of Zn in the soil is an important issue, as Zn is a heavy metal and impairs many processes of plants and animals. The novelty of this work is that it is a comprehensive approach to facilitate visualization not only of the condition of cabbage plants under Zn stress, but also prediction of the toxicity associated with consumption of such cabbages. We treated plants of two cabbage cultivars, differing in their earliness, with 50 and 200 mg Zn kg−1 soil (Zn50 and Zn200, respectively) above the natural Zn levels of 118.13 mg kg−1 soil (Zn0). Leaf cell membrane integrity, condition of the photosynthetic apparatus (reflected by relative chlorophyll content (SPAD) and Fv/Fm parameter of chlorophyll a fluorescence), head biomass, and Zn bioaccumulation in the heads were analyzed. Toxicological risk was also assessed by Daily Intake of Metal (DIM) and Health Risk Index (HRI) indicators. The data revealed that plants of the late cultivar were more sensitive to soil Zn than those of the early one. Detrimental effects of Zn (especially at the higher dose, Zn200) were manifested in the seedlings just after three weeks of treatment, and then reflected in the yield. We assume that, due to their fast and prolonged response to Zn, the seedlings of the late cultivar can be used as biomarkers of Zn toxicity. Although Zn plants did not indicate toxicological risk, based on DIM and HRI, Zn concentration in the soil should be taken into account prior to cabbage planting, because plants which do not reveal symptoms of injury can accumulate Zn above the permissible level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Farming in Harmony with Nature)
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