New Strategies for Forage Breeding and Cultivation Under Challenging Conditions
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Grassland and Pasture Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1046
Special Issue Editor
Interests: genetic improvement of forage crops with emphasis on legumes; genotype x environment interaction; innovative breeding methodologies; development of resilient cultivars tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses; elite cultivar development; cultivar maintenance and seed production; sustainable cultivation systems
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Forage plants are crucial for livestock nutrition, enhancing soil health, and supporting biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems. However, they face significant challenges, including climate change, soil degradation, water scarcity, and pests and diseases, which threaten their productivity and sustainability. Addressing these problems requires a combination of good agricultural practices, innovative technologies, and the development of more resilient crop varieties.
Cutting-edge research on breeding forage plants leverages traditional breeding efforts with genomic selection, gene editing, and high-throughput phenotyping to develop varieties with enhanced traits, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses, and nutrient quality. Additionally, integrating sustainable management and adopting innovative practices such as precision agriculture, intercropping, and regenerative agriculture promotes ecological balance and optimizes forage production and quality in changing environmental conditions.
This Special Issue aims to consolidate and disseminate innovative research on the genetics, breeding, cultivation, and management of forage species, highlighting contemporary challenges in forage production, promoting innovative breeding techniques, and sharing the best practices for sustainable land use to ultimately foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field.
We invite scientists to submit their papers on the following topics:
- Original research articles such as the following:
- Studies reporting novel breeding techniques and their application in developing resilient forage varieties.
- Papers analyzing the ecological and economic impacts of new breeding and cultivation strategies on forage systems and sustainability.
- Interdisciplinary studies that integrates insights from agronomy, ecology, and environmental science to address the complexities of forage production under climate change and other challenges.
- Review articles: comprehensive reviews summarizing recent advancements and highlighting successes and ongoing challenges.
- Case reports: examples of the successful implementation of innovative cultivation practices in various environments, demonstrating real-world applications of new strategies.
- Protocols or technical notes: detailed descriptions of new experimental approaches or technologies used in forage research, such as precision agriculture tools or phenotyping techniques.
These various contributions would provide a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements and practical strategies in this field.
Dr. Chrysanthi Pankou
Guest Editor
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
- forage species
- breeding
- resilient varieties
- yield optimization
- functional traits
- phenotyping
- livestock nutrition
- integrated pest management
- intercropping
- sustainable agriculture
- ecosystem services
- regenerative practices
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