Announcements

1. “Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Sorghum bicolor L. under Intercropping with Legumes and Different Weed Control Methods”
Saeid Vaezi Rad et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6040078
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/4/78

2. “Effect of Seaweed Extract on Productivity and Quality Attributes of Four Onion Cultivars”
Mazhar Abbas et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6020028
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/2/28

3. “Tomato Breeding for Sustainable Crop Systems: High Levels of Zingiberene Providing Resistance to Multiple Arthropods”
João Ronaldo Freitas de Oliveira et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6020034
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/2/34

4. “Evaluation of the Crop Water Stress Index as an Indicator for the Diagnosis of Grapevine Water Deficiency in Greenhouses”
Chen Ru et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(4), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6040086
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/4/86

5. “High-Tunnel Production of Strawberries Using Black and Red Plastic Mulches”
Geoffrey T. Lalk et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(4), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6040073
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/4/73

6. “Effect of pH on Cucumber Growth and Nutrient Availability in a Decoupled Aquaponic System with Minimal Solids Removal”
Caroline Blanchard et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6010010
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/1/10

7. “Biochar—A Panacea for Agriculture or Just Carbon?”
Elvir Tenic et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(3), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6030037
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/3/37

8. “Stem Branching of Cycad Plants Informs Horticulture and Conservation Decisions”
Thomas E. Marler et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(4), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6040065
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/4/65

9. “Effects of Light-Emitting Diodes on the Accumulation of Phenolic Compounds and Glucosinolates in Brassica juncea Sprouts”
Chang Ha Park et al.
Horticulturae 2020, 6(4), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6040077
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/4/77

10. “Genetic Variation in Response to N, P, or K Deprivation in Baby Leaf Lettuce”
Ivan Simko
Horticulturae 2020, 6(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6010015
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/6/1/15

Academic editors play a crucial role in leading our journals and ensuring that each article undergoes a robust and timely peer-review. With the launch of Topics this year and addition of Topic Editors to our family of academic editors, we decided it would be a good time to restructure our academic boards, thus providing more clarity and support for each role. MDPI is pleased to announce the launch of a new position—Topical Advisory Panel Member, that will replace the previous position of Topics Board Member. The Topical Advisory Panel will be comprised of early career researchers eager to gain experience in editorial work.

The main responsibility of the new members of the Topical Advisory Panel is to regularly provide support to Guest Editors, Topic Editors, and Section Board Members. The responsibilities of the Topical Advisory Panel are available here: https://www.mdpi.com/editors.

Each year, the members’ performances are evaluated, and outstanding members are promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have expertise and experience in the field related to the journal;
• Have received a Ph.D. in the last 10 years, approximately;
• Have at least 6-8 published papers in the last 5 years as first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.

If you are interested in this role, please contact the editorial office by email.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Founded in 1996, MDPI was one of the first fully Open Access publisher. Over 25 years MDPI has grown to become the largest Open Access publisher globally, publishing over 160,000 articles across more than 350 journals in 2020. At the core, MDPI was founded in response to a pressing need of fast publication and inclusion. The scholar was set at the centre of the publication process for the first time. Acting as a service provider, rather than a product provider, MDPI exists to help scientists achive their objective to disseminate research results. At MDPI, we believe scientists deserve a better service from the publishing world.

The International Open Access Week (Open Access Week), founded by the SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Alliance and student partners in 2008, has been successfully running for 13 years. As an advocate and pioneer of open access publishing, MDPI actively responds to the call of International Open Access Week. This year’s theme of “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity” highlights the Recommendation’s call for equitable participation from all authors and readers.

For the last 25 years, MDPI has been committed to disseminating open research. Here is a video showing MDPI’s Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for More than 25 Years.

International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities that can facilitate this co-design, and advance progress in the building of more equitable foundations for opening knowledge—discussions and actions that need to be continued, year in and year out. MDPI has always aimed to provide professional and efficient publishing services to scholars around the world.

Our mission is to make scientific research accessible to everyone; this year, we interview and hold discussions with open science ambassadors on how to build an equal and inclusive environment for open science. Academic editors help us collaborate with more institutions to advocate for open access ideas.

Read our anniversary blog post: "Sharing 'Collective Human Knowledge': The Benefits of Open Access Publication"

Besides this, our scientific community is a key driver of our success and MDPI’s remarkable growth. Despite the pandemic, we have prepared online conferences and workshops to gather scholars from different communities.

The Basel Sustainable Publishing online forum provides an equal opportunity for stakeholders and researchers from multi-cultural environments to exchange ideas and eliminate barriers to participation.

Conference date: 25 October 2021, online
Conference website: https://bspf2021.sciforum.net/
Main topics: MDPI discusses the current dilemma of open access science from various perspectives such as governments, libraries, and publishers, and related measures on how to change the status quo of discrimination from a global perspective.

We aim to support equality, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications. We collaborate with universities and key laboratories and have scholarly communications with researchers, teachers, and students on open access workshops.

• 25 October 2021
  Energies journal and Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

• 28 October 2021
  Machines journal and State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Southwest Jiaotong University

• 29 October 2021
  Processes journal and Beijing Institute of Technology

• 29 October 2021
  Coatings journal and Wuhan University of Technology

MDPI is committed to providing open access and high-quality publishing services for scholars and promoting rapid dissemination of academic achievements. We hope to promote the practices and policies of open access publishing and diversify the dissemination of academic achievements.

We are pleased to announce that the 1st International Electronic Conference on Horticulturae (IECHo 2022) will be held from 3 to 17 February 2022 on Sciforum (https://sciforum.net/event/IECHo2022). We hope you will be able to attend this exciting event and support us in making it a success. The conference will be chaired by Prof. Juan A. Fernández, from the Technical University, Spain, Prof. José Antonio Pascual, from CEBAS-CSIC, Spain, and Prof. Yuyang Zhang, from Huazhong Agricultural University, China.

The conference will feature several sections, embracing the most important research areas in horticultural science. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• The hidden potential of urban horticulture;
• Organic horticulture;
• New trends on medicinal, herbs, and specialty crops;
• Propagation and seeds in the globalized world;
• How to increase plant nutrition with no negative effect on environment;
• Outreach, extension, and education on horticulture advances;
• Advances in fruit production systems;
• Advances in vegetable production systems;
• Postharvest challenges and technologies;
• Overcoming abiotic and biotic stress;
• Managing new plant pests and diseases.

The conference will be completely free of charge—both to attend and for scholars to upload and present their latest work on the conference platform. There will also be an opportunity to submit selected papers to Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/special_issues/International_ElectronicConference), with a 10% discount on the Article Processing Charge (APC).

Important Dates

Abstract Submission Deadline: 18 October 2021
Submission of Full Manuscript Deadline: 1 December 2021
Conference Date: 3–17 February 2022

Paper Submission Guidelines

For information about the submission procedure and preparation of a full presentation, please refer to the "Instructions for Authors" section at: https://sciforum.net/event/IECHo2022#instructions.

We look forward to receiving your research papers and welcoming you to our first e-conference on horticulturae. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. Over 369,916 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2020. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list of all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year, the MDPI Top Reviewer Award was announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise and dedication, and their high-quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award:

• Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu;
• Alban Kuriqi;
• Álvaro González-Vila;
• Alessandro Alaimo;
• Alexey Beskopylny;
• Alexander Yu Churyumov;
• Alberto Fernández-Isabel;
• Andrea Mastinu;
• Antonios N. Papadopoulos;
• Anton Rassõlkin;
• Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino;
• Arkadiusz Matwijczuk;
• Artur Słomka;
• Baojie He;
• Bartłomiej Potaniec;
• Bojan Đurin;
• Camilo Arturo Rodriguez Diaz;
• Carmelo Maria Musarella;
• Chiachung Chen;
• Chiman Kwan;
• Cristian Busu;
• Danil Pimenov;
• Dan-Cristian Dabija;
• Delfín Ortega-Sánchez;
• Demetrio Antonio Zema;
• Denis Butusov;
• Elena Lucchi;
• Gaurab Dutta;
• Livia Anastasiu;
• M. R. Safaei.

For more information about how to become a reviewer of MDPI journals, please see: www.mdpi.com/reviewers.

We welcome the following 20 well-known researchers, who have recently joined the Editorial Board of Horticulturae (ISSN: 2311-7524):

Dr. Lili Huang, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China;
Dr. Alessandra Carrubba, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy;
Prof. Dr. Zhihui Cheng, Northwest A&F university, Yangling, China;
Dr. Raul I. Cabrera, Rutgers University, Bridgeton, NJ, USA;
Prof. Dr. Catalina Egea-Gilabert, Technical University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain;
Prof. Dr. Jiang Lu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China;
Dr. Giulia Giunti, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy;
Dr. Haiying Liang, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA;
Prof. Dr. María del Carmen Martínez Ballesta, Technical University of Cartagena, Cartagena (Murcia), Spain;
Dr. Marjorie Reyes-Díaz, University of La Frontera, Temuco, Chile;
Dr. Jia-Long Yao, The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, Auckland, New Zealand;
Dr. Alessandra Durazzo, CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Rome, Italy;
Prof. Dr. Jin Kong, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China;
Dr. Julė Jankauskienė, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Kedainiai, Lithuania;
Dr. Carmelo Peter Bonsignore, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy;
Dr. Honghao Lv, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China;
Dr. Patricia Knight, Mississippi State University, Poplarville, MS, USA;
Dr. Miguel Guzmán, University of Almeria, Almería, Spain;
Dr. Tong Chen, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;
Dr. Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.

Further details about the Editorial Board can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/editors.

Horticulturae Editorial Office

UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. In 2020 the SDG Publishers Compact was launched, aimed to inspire publishers and accelerate progress to achieve the 17 goals by 2030. Members of the programme are committed to support the publication of materials that will promote and inspire actions towards SDGs.

MDPI is an eager advocate of SDGs and has already been supporting the programme by creating Special Issues and publishing a series of books on SDGs prior to joining the Compact in 2021. MDPI's Sustainability Foundation initiated the World Sustainability Awards in 2016. We fully support UN's goals to promote sustainable actions that make the world a better place for all and, as part of its commitment, we will focus our actions on SDG10: Reduced Inequalities whilst promoting all 17 SDGs. For more details, please visit the programme’s website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/.

Joining this initiative was a unanimous decision. MDPI has in its core values the dissemination of science for all, breaking the wall between research access and under-represented members of the scientific community and the general population. To support this initiative further and continue to support under-represented scientists, MDPI will take a series of actions that will be announced once ready.

The first action MDPI takes is to nominate Dr. Liliane Auwerter as the coordinator of the programme. Dr. Auwerter studied Environmental Process Technology (UTFPR, Brazil), obtained her MSc degree in Water and Environmental Engineering (University of Surrey, UK) and in 2020 completed her PhD in self-healing low-friction materials for water transport (Imperial College London, UK), always focusing on diverse scientific projects that would potentially bring sustainability to industrial processes. As a student in Brazil, she engaged in volunteering activities focused on environmental education and took part in the Millennial Development Goals meetings held at the university.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Liliane Auwerter
Scientific Officer
liliane.auwerter@mdpi.com

We are pleased to announce the Topic “Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Agriculture” (https://www.mdpi.com/topics/Fertility_Nutrition_Agriculture).

This collection invites contributions on new agricultural practices that maintain or restore soil life and fertility; new methods and technologies for mineral and organic feeding and plant fertilization; new sources of, and processes for, providing healthy food without negative impacts on the soil; the use of cultivars that efficiently valorize soil resources; and the use of plant cover or crop associations. Contributions concerning biocontrol and soilborne disease are also welcome.

The relevant journals are Horticulturae, Plants, Agronomy, Agriculture, and Sustainability. The submission deadline is 31 December 2022. Contributions to the topic are welcome.

We are pleased to announce the Horticulturae 2021 Best Ph.D. Thesis Award (CHF 800) is now open for application. This prize will be awarded to a Ph.D. student who is about to graduate or participate in a graduation thesis. If you are interested, please submit your applications and materials through the following link by 31 December 2021 (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/awards/submit/1399).

The winner will be announced on the journal website on 31 January 2022. For more details about Horticulturae awards, please visit the following link (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/awards).

Horticulturae Editorial Office

We are pleased to announce the new Section “Horticultural Economics, Policy, Business Management and Marketing” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/sections/HEPBMM) in the journal Horticulturae. Prof. Dr. Christian Fischer is serving as the Section Editor-in-Chief.

The “Horticultural Economics, Policy, Business Management and Marketing” (HEPBMM) Section publishes original manuscripts of diverse types related to social science topics such as economics, management science, and political science, which have a significant connection to horticultural production, distribution, and consumption patterns and systems anywhere in the world.

We welcome high-quality submissions of both qualitative and quantitative nature within the scope of this Section. Accordingly, the scope of this Section includes research articles, review articles, methodology articles and, to a limited extent, opinion pieces.

All accepted papers must demonstrate a solid methodological basis and be built on reliable evidence, leading to new insights and tangible knowledge advances. All contributions are subject to a rigorous peer review process aiming to assure high academic quality standards.  

In particular, we are interested in innovative approaches and interdisciplinary studies combining social science with natural science topics and approaches. We invite all interested scientists to serve as Guest Editors of Special Issues on a single and particular theme.