Agricultural Techniques and Physiological Strategies for Survival and Growth of Plants in Nutritionally Starved Conditions

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue, titled “Agricultural Techniques and Physiological Strategies for Survival and Growth of Plants in Nutritionally Starved Conditions”, addresses the challenge of how to sustain crop productivity, yield, and quality on productive systems, with limiting or imbalanced nutrient availability, due to the intrinsic conditions of the production site or under economic pressure to reduce external inputs. Nutrient-starved conditions are increasingly common due to soil degradation, climate change, and the expansion of low-input and marginal cropping systems. Understanding how plants sense, tolerate, and overcome nutritional stress, and how agronomic management can support these processes, is essential for food security, resource-use efficiency, and sustainable intensification.

For this Special Issue, we seek contributions that integrate agronomy, physiology, molecular biology, and ecology to elucidate plant responses to nutrient deficiency and to propose useful solutions. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: soil, root system and rhizosphere processes under nutrient limitation; physiological and biochemical adaptations to nutrient starvation; interactions between nutrient deficiency and water, salinity, or temperature stress; low-input fertilization strategies and precision nutrient management; biofortification and nutrient-use efficiency; the role of biostimulants, beneficial microorganisms, state-of-the-art fertilizers, and nanofertilizers in nutritionally constrained environments; as well as omics approaches for identifying tolerant genotypes and management strategies.

We welcome original research articles reporting field, greenhouse, or laboratory experiments, and integrative physiological or molecular studies. We also encourage review papers that synthesize current knowledge, identify research gaps, and propose conceptual or methodological frameworks for future work. Contributions covering a wide variety of crops, from cereals and legumes to horticultural and perennial species, and diverse production systems will be considered.

Prof. Dr. Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza
Dr. Gonzalo Tortella-Fuentes
Dr. Susana González-Morales
Dr. Marcelino Cabrera De La Fuente
Dr. Alberto Sandoval-Rangel
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.