Organic Fertilizers in Horticulture
A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2025 | Viewed by 14322
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil fertility; waste management; nutrient management; soil chemistry; fertilizers; organic matter; environmental science; contaminants of emerging concern; soil pollutions; tillage and organic management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: composting; soil fertility; organic farming; fertilizers; heavy metal pollution; soil organic matter; nutrient management; waste management; bioaccumulation of heavy metals; soil quality; waste treatment; sludge treatment; environmental science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: pollution; heavy metals; soil fertility; sustainability; wastes and wastewater management; phytotoxicity; environmental risk assessement; composting; water quality; sustainable agriculture; plant nutrition; soil and water conservation; carbon sequestration
Interests: sustainable agriculture; soil fertility; plant nutrition; nutrient management; nutrient cycling; C, N, P isotopes; microplastics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Modern horticulture depends heavily on the external supply of mineral nutrients in the form of synthetic fertilizers, derived from extracted resources. The massive use of synthetic fertilizers has for several years been associated with a vision of agricultural modernization aimed at drastically increasing food production to alleviate hunger globally. The attempt to "industrialize" agricultural systems, in particular horticultural production, has entailed a very high cost for the environment, and human health, as well as a degradation of planetary conditions. In this non-reassuring scenario, both solid and liquid organic fertilizers can act as a transition element toward sustainable low-input agriculture. On the one hand, they improve the chemical-physical and biological properties of the soil ensuring better horticultural productions. On the other hand, they require microbial degradation processes to mineralize the nutritional content and are therefore characterized as slow-release fertilizers. However, organic fertilizers can also be a potential source of environmental pollution. There is growing evidence that organic fertilizers can have high concentrations of trace metals such as Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb, contaminants of emerging concern or microplastics. Furthermore, the use of organic fertilizers in open fields or greenhouses could be integrated with new precision farming practices to ensure a stable and economically sufficient yield. The Special Issue is open to manuscripts that aim to share any knowledge on the use of organic fertilizers in horticulture to improve food production and environmental sustainability.
Dr. Francesco De Mastro
Dr. Gennaro Brunetti
Dr. Karam Farrag
Dr. Huadong Zang
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 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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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
- organic farming
- sustainable horticulture
- greenhouse horticulture
- precision farming
- compost
- biochar
- soil pollutions
- contaminants of emerging concern
- microplastics
- heavy metals
- waste management
- soil quality
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