Effects of Microbial Fertilizers on Yield and Quality of Horticultural Plants
A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 924
Special Issue Editors
Interests: abiotic stress; bioremediation; plant hormones; plant-microbe interactions; plant nutrition; rhizosphere; root development; shoot organogenesis; shoot regeneration; trace elements
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: aquatic ecology; bioremediation; duckweeds; microbiology; organic pollutants; plant nutrition; plant stress physiology; rhizosphere; wastewater treatment
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Food security and safety are growing concerns in a world facing the increasing challenges of overpopulation, climate change, land degradation, and the spread of plant pathogens, pests, and invasive weeds into new areas. The overuse of synthetic fertilizers has led to environmental problems such as soil and water pollution, freshwater eutrophication, and the depletion of global mineral reserves of phosphate rock.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to beneficial soil microbes due to their great, and globally underutilized, potential for enhancing crop growth under unfavorable conditions. The list of bacterial and fungal species and strains that are able to enhance the availability of soil nutrients to plants; alleviate the consequences of abiotic stress through the release of antioxidants and other protective metabolites into the soil; and protect crop plants or induce systemic resistance against pathogens and pests is ever-expanding. Many of these beneficial microbial strains are marketed by the agrochemical industry and sold as preparations for the enhancement of crop growth: microbial fertilizers, or so-called "biofertilizers".
The market for microbial fertilizers is growing, and their specific effects on the growth and protection of crop species are continuously investigated. In horticulture, the benefits of novel microbial fertilizers for the cultivation of minor crops, such as rare or local varieties of vegetables and fruits, as well as ornamental plants and floricultural species, are still insufficiently investigated.
We welcome research and review submissions focusing on novel insights into the effects of biofertilizers on fruit and vegetable crops, as well as floricultural and ornamental plants. In contrast, non-horticultural crops, including large-scale industrial plantations, cereals, and other staple crops, are more aligned with agronomy and are therefore out of the scope of this Special Issue.
Dr. Martin Raspor
Dr. Olga Radulović
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
- biocontrol agents
- biofertilizers
- climate resilience
- induced systemic resistance
- local and rare horticultural crops
- microbial fertilizers
- nutrient solubilization
- plant growth promotion
- rhizobacteria
- soil enzymes
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