Advances in Integrated Rice-Fish Farming
A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Aquaculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2026 | Viewed by 270
Special Issue Editors
Interests: rice–fish co-culture system; fish cultivation in rice paddies; heavy metal; nitrogen-phosphorus nutrient cycling; risk assessment; microplastics; Cadmium
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Integrated rice–fish farming is a traditional yet innovative agro-ecological practice that synergizes crop cultivation with aquaculture production. This system not only enhances resource use efficiency, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience, but also contributes to food security, poverty alleviation, and climate adaptation in rural communities. Recent years have witnessed rapid progress in understanding its ecological mechanisms, nutrient cycling, and microbial dynamics, as well as technological innovations in breeding, feed formulation, and environmental monitoring. Meanwhile, challenges such as heavy metal accumulation, greenhouse gas emissions, and system optimisation under climate change remain critical research frontiers.
This Special Issue invites original research articles, data-enabled reviews, and comparative case studies that deepen our understanding of integrated rice–fish systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Ecological functions and ecosystem service valuation;
- Greenhouse gas fluxes and mitigation pathways;
- Heavy metal biogeochemistry and safe operating thresholds;
- Genetic improvement, selective breeding, and sex control of cultured fish;
- Precision nutrient stewardship and closed-loop fertiliser strategies;
- Carbon and nitrogen cycling microbial communities;
- Model-based system optimisation and climate-adaptive management;
- Socio-economic assessments of food security, livelihood, and gender equity outcomes;
- Policy incentives, certification schemes, and global market potential;
- Intelligent equipment and Digital Twins (sensor networks, AI feeding, blockchain traceability).
Prof. Dr. Zongjun Du
Dr. Dongjie Wang
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Fishes 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
- rice–fish co-culture system
- integrated aquaculture
- nutrient cycling
- microbial community dynamics
- heavy metal accumulation
- microplastic accumulation
- climate-resilient farming
- sustainable agriculture
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