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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Advancements in Horticultural Irrigation Water Management
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Advancements in Horticultural Irrigation Water Management

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Protected Culture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 2457

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Bongani Ncube

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Guest Editor
Centre for Water and Sanitation Research, Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Interests: Soil fertility and plant nutrition; Farming systems, Soil and water sciences; Water resource management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Charles Petrus Laubscher

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Guest Editor
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville 7535, Cape Town P.O. Box 1906, South Africa
Interests: Wild food and ornamental crops; Cultivation; Hydroculture; Conservation
Dr. Muhali Olaide Jimoh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye P.O. Box 2002, Ogun State, Nigeria
Interests: Plant physiology; Plant metabolomics; Food Security
Dr. Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, 1111 Miller Plant Sciences, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Interests: precision irrigation; water management; plant mineral nutrition; nutrient management; cropping systems; greenhouses; vertical farms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Irrigation water management is a critical strategy for horticultural production, especially in areas devastated by drought and the growing impacts of climate change. Successful agricultural water management in horticulture necessitates a thorough understanding of water resources, water quality, crop requirements, and the use of water conservation technologies. The growing demand for agricultural plant-based food and ornamental horticultural crops has pushed scientists, economists, and policymakers to develop sustainable water management practices to sustain these industries.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to present cutting-edge research on horticultural water management practices and policies that have proven effective in addressing environmental climate concerns such as water scarcity, water use efficiency, water recycling, crop resilience, drought tolerance, advanced irrigation technologies, and hydroponic cultivation for high-quality crops. This Special Issue welcomes innovative articles on irrigation water management strategies.

Prof. Dr. Bongani Ncube
Prof. Dr. Charles Petrus Laubscher
Dr. Muhali Olaide Jimoh
Dr. Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi
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

  • water scarcity
  • crop resilience
  • drought tolerance
  • irrigation technologies
  • hydroponics
  • water use efficiency

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3066 KB  
Article
Enhancing Cherry Tomato Performance Under Water Deficit Through Microbial Inoculation with Bacillus subtilis and Burkholderia seminalis
by Henrique Fonseca Elias de Oliveira, Thiago Dias Silva, Jhon Lennon Bezerra da Silva, Priscila Jane Romano Gonçalves Selaria, Marcos Vinícius da Silva, Marcio Mesquita, Josef Augusto Oberdan Souza Silva and Rhuanito Soranz Ferrarezi
Horticulturae 2025, 11(10), 1157; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11101157 - 26 Sep 2025
Abstract
Crop productivity can be affected by biotic and abiotic stressors, and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) from the genera Bacillus and Burkholderia have the potential to maintain fruit yield and quality, as these bacteria can promote plant growth by solubilizing nutrients, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, [...] Read more.
Crop productivity can be affected by biotic and abiotic stressors, and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) from the genera Bacillus and Burkholderia have the potential to maintain fruit yield and quality, as these bacteria can promote plant growth by solubilizing nutrients, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, producing phytohormones, and exhibiting antagonistic activity against pathogens. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of inoculating plants with Bacillus subtilis and Burkholderia seminalis on their morphological characteristics, fruit technological attributes and yield of common cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) subjected to induced water deficit. The study was arranged on a split-plot randomized block design, with four water replacement levels (40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of crop evapotranspiration, ETc) and three inoculation treatments (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 23858, Burkholderia seminalis TC3.4.2R3 and non-inoculation). Data were subjected to analysis of variance using the F-test and compared using Tukey’s test (p < 0.05) and multivariate statistics from principal component analysis. Inoculation with Burkholderia seminalis increased the plant fresh and dry shoot and root mass, as well as root volume. Inoculation with Bacillus subtilis increased carotenoid and chlorophyll b contents. Both inoculations enhanced leaf water content in plants experiencing severe water deficit (40% of ETc). The use of these strains as PGPB increased the fruit soluble solids content. Higher productivity in inoculated plants was achieved through a greater number of fruits per cluster, despite the individual fruits being lighter. Treatments with higher water replacement levels resulted in greater yield. Inoculations showed biotechnological potential in mitigating water deficit in cherry tomatoes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Horticultural Irrigation Water Management)
19 pages, 2370 KB  
Article
Calculation and Prediction of Water Requirements for Aeroponic Cultivation of Crops in Greenhouses
by Xiwen Yang, Feifei Xiao, Pin Jiang and Yahui Luo
Horticulturae 2025, 11(9), 1034; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11091034 - 1 Sep 2025
Viewed by 466
Abstract
Crop aeroponic cultivation still faces issues such as insufficient precision in water supply control and scientifically-based irrigation scheduling. To address this challenge, the present study aims to establish a precision irrigation protocol adapted to the characteristics of crop aeroponic cultivation. Using coriander ( [...] Read more.
Crop aeroponic cultivation still faces issues such as insufficient precision in water supply control and scientifically-based irrigation scheduling. To address this challenge, the present study aims to establish a precision irrigation protocol adapted to the characteristics of crop aeroponic cultivation. Using coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) as the experimental subject, crop water requirements were estimated utilizing both the FAO56 P-M equation and its revised form. The RMSE between the water requirement measured values and the calculated values using the P-M formula is 2.12 mm, the MAE is 2.0 mm, and the MAPE is 14.29%. The RMSE between the water requirement measured values and the calculated values using the revised P-M formula is 0.88 mm, the MAE is 0.82 mm, and the MAPE is 5.78%. The results indicate that the water requirement values calculated using the revised P-M formula are closer to the measured values. For model development, this study used coriander evapotranspiration as a basis. Major environmental variables influencing water requirement were selected as input features, and the daily reference water requirement served as the output. Three modeling approaches were implemented: Random Forest (RF), Bagging, and M5P Model Tree algorithms. The results indicate that, in comparing various input combinations (C1: air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, radiation, photoperiod; C2: air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, radiation; C3: air temperature, relative humidity, radiation), the RF model based on C1 input demonstrated superior performance with RMSE = 0.121 mm/d, MAE = 0.134 mm/d, MAPE = 2.123%, and R2 = 0.971. It significantly outperforms the RF models with other input combinations, as well as the Bagging and M5P models across all input scenarios, in terms of convergence rate, determination coefficient, and comprehensive performance. Its predictions aligned more closely with observed data, showing enhanced accuracy and adaptability. This optimized prediction model demonstrates particular suitability for forecasting water requirements in aeroponic coriander production and provides theoretical support for efficient, intelligent water-saving management in crop aeroponic cultivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Horticultural Irrigation Water Management)
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19 pages, 2016 KB  
Article
Evapotranspiration-Based Irrigation Management Effects on Yield and Water Productivity of Summer Cauliflower on the California Central Coast
by Michael Cahn, Lee Johnson and Sharon Benzen
Horticulturae 2025, 11(3), 322; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11030322 - 15 Mar 2025
Viewed by 967
Abstract
Improvements in irrigation water productivity constitute an ongoing effort globally. In California, growers are under regulatory pressure to stabilize groundwater levels and reduce nitrate leaching, partially, by further improvements in irrigation optimization. Evapotranspiration (ET)-based methods can inform crop water requirements and boost irrigation [...] Read more.
Improvements in irrigation water productivity constitute an ongoing effort globally. In California, growers are under regulatory pressure to stabilize groundwater levels and reduce nitrate leaching, partially, by further improvements in irrigation optimization. Evapotranspiration (ET)-based methods can inform crop water requirements and boost irrigation efficiency, but in practice, they can be challenging for farmers to implement, especially in vegetable systems. Irrigation field trials were conducted near Salinas CA in 2018 and 2019 to evaluate the crop coefficient model employed by the CropManage ET-based irrigation decision support system (DSS) for summer cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis cv. Symphony) and investigate potential water savings through improved irrigation scheduling. Overhead sprinklers were used for crop establishment, and surface drip was used subsequently. A randomized complete block design was used to administer treatments near 50, 75, 100, and 150% of crop evapotranspiration (ET) during the drip period with an added treatment at 125% in 2019. Water requirement for the 100% treatment was determined by the CropManage DSS model based on crop coefficients derived from fractional canopy cover. Deliveries to remaining treatments were scaled proportionally. The total yield and irrigation productivity were maximized by the 100% treatment both years with total applied water ranging from 275 to 300 mm. At present, the reported water application for summer cauliflower averages 465 mm in the region. Hence, implementing ET-based irrigation scheduling, administered through the CropManage DSS, could reduce water use in summer cauliflower by an average of 30% relative to current practices and serve to enhance groundwater management while maintaining crop returns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Horticultural Irrigation Water Management)
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