Integrating Fertilizers and Fungi to Enhance Horticulture Crop Resilience
A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2026 | Viewed by 1492
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant physiology; stress biology; soil and plant nutrition management; climate stress changes on plant production; metabolomics; transcriptomics; plants and fruits quality; production technology
Interests: horticulture; sustainable agricultural techniques in the conventional and in the low input cropping systems; investigating the different agronomic crop responses even in physiological terms; agronomy; crop physiology; organic; sustainability; tomato; abiotic stress
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In modern horticulture, enhancing crop resilience against biotic and abiotic stresses is vital for ensuring sustainable production and food security. Among the emerging strategies, the integration of fertilizers with beneficial fungi, such as mycorrhizal fungi and Trichoderma species, has shown great potential in plant production. Fertilizers are crucial for supply of essential nutrients, while fungi improve nutrient uptake efficiency, stimulate plant growth, and boost natural defense mechanisms. This synergy not only promotes plant growth and development but also enhances tolerance to drought, salinity, temperature, heat, disease, and pathogen attacks. Recent advances in soil microbiology, plant nutrition, and biotechnology have expanded our understanding of plant–microbe–soil interactions, enabling innovative approaches for integrated nutrient and microbial management. Such techniques can reduce chemical input dependency, improve soil health, and contribute to climate change adaptation in horticultural plant systems.
The purpose of this Special Issue is to present cutting-edge research and reviews that explore these synergistic and antagonistic approaches. We welcome contributions addressing mechanisms, field applications, novel formulations, and case studies across fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, and medicinal plants. By bringing together global research efforts, this Special Issue aims to advance resilient and eco-friendly horticulture practices for the future productions.
Dr. Muhammad Khalid Hameed
Dr. Domenico Ronga
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. 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
- fertilizer–fungi integration
- mycorrhizal fungi
- biostimulants
- plant growth-promoting fungi
- soil–plant–microbe interactions
- nutrient uptake efficiency
- crop stress tolerance
- soil health improvement
- sustainable horticulture
- biotic and abiotic stress management
- climate change adaptation in crops
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