Biostimulants for Sustainable Crop Productivity and Protection: From Concept to Application
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant-Crop Biology and Biochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 630
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biostimulants; biofertilizer; microalgae; plant conditioner; bio-nanoparticles; crop production; plant physiology
Interests: soil nutrient management; biofertilizer; biostimulants; microalgae; cropping systems
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sustainable crop production is a growing priority in modern agriculture, striving to reduce its dependence on synthetic inputs while maintaining productivity under environmental stress.
Biostimulants, classified as microbial (such as plant-growth-promoting microorganisms, microalgae, and cyanobacteria), non-microbial (including seaweeds and plant extracts, humic and fulvic acids, chitosan, and protein hydrolysates), and waste-derived (made from agro-industrial wastes), offer promising solutions to enhance plant resilience, nutrient uptake, and soil health. Microbial sources produce bioactive compounds such as phytohormones, peptides, amino acids, fatty acids, polysaccharides, and phenolics that enhance nutrient uptake, activate metabolic pathways, and help plants withstand abiotic stress.
This Special Issue will focus on recent advances in biostimulant development, modes of action, and applications for sustainable crop protection and yield improvement. We welcome contributions focusing on novel biostimulant formulations, their synergistic effects with agronomic practices, soil–plant–microbe interactions, and case studies from field trials. Interdisciplinary and multi-scale studies that connect biostimulant effects with ecological and physiological outcomes are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Zoltan Molnar
Guest Editor
Dr. Wogene Solomon Kabato
Guest Editor Assistant
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.
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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
- biostimulants
- phytohormones
- amino acids
- microbial inoculants
- plant-growth-promoting microorganisms
- microalgae and cyanobacteria
- nutrient uptake
- abiotic and biotic stress tolerance
- plant–microbe interactions
- sustainable agriculture
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