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Agronomy
Special Issues
Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality—2nd Edition
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Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality—2nd Edition

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 919

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Wenxiu Zou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China
Interests: soil fertility; relationship between soil and crop; soil structure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil nutrient dynamics can reflect the history of soil management and represent an important factor impacting crop yield. The lack of research on soil nutrient dynamics may be affecting crop nutrient managements practices and chemical fertilizer utilization, increasing chemical fertilizer input and lowering fertilizer use efficiency. This threatens the environment and heavily impacts sustainable development in regional agriculture. This Special Issue will focus on soil fertility, soil nutrient cycling, and agronomy practices that can improve soil quality and increase crop yield. This Special Issue will help us to understand the effects of different agronomy practices on soil fertility, crop nutrient uptake, and crop productivity. Cutting-edge research on the relationship between nutrient availability, soil microorganisms, and soil structure is welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Key factors impacting soil nutrient dynamics in arable land;
  2. Nutrient cycling processes under different agronomy practices;
  3. Effects of long-term agronomy practices (e.g., tillage practices and fertilization) on soil nutrient, crop yield, and fertilizer use efficiency;
  4. Nutrient transformation driven by microorganisms.

Dr. Wenxiu Zou
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

  • soil nutrient management
  • soil nutrient cycling
  • soil tillage
  • soil amendment
  • crop yield
  • long-term fertilization
  • crop nutrient uptake

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 3204 KiB  
Article
Metagenomics Reveals the Effects of Organic Material Co-Application on Phosphorus Cycling Functional Genes and Bioavailable Phosphorus
by Wei Wang, Yue Jiang, Shanshan Cai, Yumei Li, Lei Sun and Juanjuan Qu
Agronomy 2025, 15(5), 1187; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15051187 - 14 May 2025
Viewed by 746
Abstract
Phosphorus is essential for crop growth, but excessive use of chemical fertilizers can lead to environmental issues. The incorporation of organic materials has the potential to enhance phosphorus availability and promote soil phosphorus cycling. This study investigated the effects of chemical fertilizer co-application [...] Read more.
Phosphorus is essential for crop growth, but excessive use of chemical fertilizers can lead to environmental issues. The incorporation of organic materials has the potential to enhance phosphorus availability and promote soil phosphorus cycling. This study investigated the effects of chemical fertilizer co-application with two organic materials on soil properties and functions. Four treatments were established: (1) chemical fertilizer alone (SC, consisting of urea, ammonium phosphate, and potassium sulfate), (2) chemical fertilizer with corn-straw-derived biochar (SCB), (3) chemical fertilizer with composted manure-based organic fertilizer (SCF), and (4) chemical fertilizer with both biochar and organic fertilizer (SCBF). This study focused on changes in soil properties, bioavailable phosphorus, phosphorus cycling functional genes, and related microbial communities. Compared to SC, the combined application of organic materials significantly increased available phosphorus (AP), alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen (AN), and available potassium (AK), with the SCBF exhibiting the highest increases of 78.76%, 47.47%, and 336.61%, respectively. However, applying organic materials reduced alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) activities, except for the increase in ACP in SCBF. Additionally, bioavailable phosphorus increased by up to 157.00% in SCBF. Adding organic materials significantly decreased organic phosphorus mineralization genes (phoA, phoD, phnP) and phosphate degradation genes (ppk2), while increasing inorganic phosphorus solubilization genes (pqqC, gcd), which subsequently increased CaCl2-P and Citrate-P contents in SCB and in SCBF. In summary, organic material application significantly enhances phosphorus bioavailability by improving soil physicochemical properties and phosphorus-related gene abundance. These findings provide new insights into sustainable soil fertility management and highlight the potential of integrating organic materials with chemical fertilizers to improve soil nutrient availability, thereby contributing to increased soybean yield. Moreover, this study advances our understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving phosphorus cycling under combined fertilization strategies, offering a scientific basis for optimizing fertilization practices in agroecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality—2nd Edition)
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