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Plants
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Nutrient Management for Better Crop Production
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Nutrient Management for Better Crop Production

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 3571

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. John Havlin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State Uni-versity, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Interests: viticulture; soil and nutrient management; precision agriculture; remote sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Enhanced nutrient management practices are essential to ensure food security, natural resource conservation, and environmental quality protection.

Native supply of plant nutrients intimately depends on numerous complex organic–inorganic compound interactions, where increasing soil organic matter content can substantially enhance plant nutrient buffer capacity. In addition, quantifying the residual availability of soil applied nutrients potentially reduces subsequent nutrient application rates.

We invite manuscript submissions of original research and literature reviews related to increased soil organic matter effects on nutrient supply and innovative methods to assess residual nutrient availability.

Prof. Dr. John Havlin
Guest Editor

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. 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.

Keywords

  • plant nutrient
  • nutrient management
  • organic matter
  • residual nutrient supply

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1522 KB  
Article
Effects of Foliar Organic Selenium Application During the Main Season on Ratoon Rice Yield, Grain Quality, and Selenium Accumulation
by Jinfu Hu, Dehao Feng, Ziran Tang, Caise Ya, Xueer Lin, Kai Zhang and Xiong Yao
Plants 2025, 14(17), 2758; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14172758 - 3 Sep 2025
Viewed by 552
Abstract
With the growing global demand for rice and the urgent need to enhance sustainable production, ratoon rice systems and selenium (Se) biofortification technologies have become important strategies. This study investigated the effects of the foliar application of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid Se (EDTA-Se) during key [...] Read more.
With the growing global demand for rice and the urgent need to enhance sustainable production, ratoon rice systems and selenium (Se) biofortification technologies have become important strategies. This study investigated the effects of the foliar application of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid Se (EDTA-Se) during key growth stages of the main rice season on the yield, grain quality, and Se accumulation in ratoon rice. Two rice varieties—Fengliangyouxiang-1 (FLYX1) and Jinliangyouhuazhan (JLYHZ)—were selected for a two-year field experiment. A systematic analysis was performed on yield components, processing quality, appearance quality, nutritional quality, and Se speciation. The results showed that under an equivalent total amount of spraying EDTA-Se, the best effect on improving the yield, grain quality, and grain Se content of ratoon rice was observed at the heading stage and seven days after full heading. This treatment increased ratoon season yield by 6.45%, primarily due to enhanced grain filling rate (GF) and spikelets per panicle (SP). Processing quality was significantly improved; milled rice rate (MR) increased by 5.59–6.24% in FLYX1 and 3.38–3.52% in JLYHZ, while appearance quality also improved, with chalky grain rate (CGR) decreasing by 21.51–22.93% in FLYX1 and 14.50–14.53% in JLYHZ. These improvements were closely associated with elevated protein content and increased accumulation of selenomethionine (SM). Notably, FLYX1 exhibited higher efficiency in converting selenium to organic forms, whereas JLYHZ showed a greater accumulation of inorganic selenium, highlighting genotype-specific responses. This study confirmed that the foliar application of EDTA-Se during key growth phases of rice during the main season can synergistically optimize yield and quality in ratoon rice while achieving Se biofortification and providing a theoretical basis and technical support for improving the quality and efficiency of ratoon rice, as well as producing Se-enriched ratoon rice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Management for Better Crop Production)
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17 pages, 7041 KB  
Article
The Prolonged Application of Organic Fertilizers Increases the Quality and Yield of Tea Crops
by Cuiting Dai, Fen Xiang, Hongyan Liu, Lingyun Zhou and Wei Li
Plants 2025, 14(9), 1317; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14091317 - 26 Apr 2025
Viewed by 1029
Abstract
The substitution of chemical nitrogen (N) with organic fertilizers in tea plantations has been widely recognized as a strategy to maintain tea yield and improve soil quality, ensuring the sustainability of tea production systems. However, the effects of long-term organic-fertilizer substitution on tea [...] Read more.
The substitution of chemical nitrogen (N) with organic fertilizers in tea plantations has been widely recognized as a strategy to maintain tea yield and improve soil quality, ensuring the sustainability of tea production systems. However, the effects of long-term organic-fertilizer substitution on tea yield and quality, soil properties, and bacterial communities have yet to be fully investigated, and the underlying mechanisms affecting tea yield and quality remain unclear. We conducted a six-year-long field experiment in a tea plantation to investigate the relationships among soil properties, bacterial communities, and the yield and quality of tea. Four treatments were compared: no fertilizer (NF), conventional fertilization (CF), 50% chemical N fertilizer substituted with a microbial organic fertilizer (MF), and 50% chemical N fertilizer substituted with a special organic fertilizer for tea (OF). The results showed that the substitution of organic fertilizers increased the spring tea yield by 6.4%~8.5% and the amino acid content of tea by up to 7.8%, while reducing tea polyphenol levels by 1.2–4.4% compared to CF. The soil quality improved significantly, with total phosphorus rising by 20.0% (MF) and 22.9% (OF), and soil organic matter increasing notably in the MF treatment group. The soil quality index (SQI) improved by 38.6% in the OF treatment group compared to the CF treatment group. Organic treatments reshaped bacterial communities, with the OF boosting Acidobacteriota (36.4%) and Planctomycetota (444.4%), and the MF enriching Actinobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes. Bacterial diversity (Shannon and Chao1 indices) correlated positively with the soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and pH. Changes in microbial communities were driven by pH, soil organic matter, and nitrogen levels. The partial least squares path model analysis confirmed that fertilization indirectly influenced tea yield (67% variance explained) and quality (79% variance explained) via soil properties and bacterial communities. These findings highlight the potential of organic-fertilizer substitution to promote sustainable tea production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Management for Better Crop Production)
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21 pages, 2233 KB  
Article
Effect of Organic and Synthetic Fertilizers on Nitrate, Nitrite, and Vitamin C Levels in Leafy Vegetables and Herbs
by Nga Thi Thu Nguyen, Bac Xuan Nguyen, Nasratullah Habibi, Maryam Dabirimirhosseinloo, Leonardo de Almeida Oliveira, Naoki Terada, Atsushi Sanada, Atsushi Kamata and Kaihei Koshio
Plants 2025, 14(6), 917; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14060917 - 14 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1480
Abstract
This study investigated the accumulation of nitrate and nitrite, as well as the vitamin C content, in various leafy vegetables, including amaranth greens, katuk, morning glory, squash leaves, vine spinach, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, Vietnamese basil, Vietnamese perilla, komatsuna, leeks, and spinach, grown [...] Read more.
This study investigated the accumulation of nitrate and nitrite, as well as the vitamin C content, in various leafy vegetables, including amaranth greens, katuk, morning glory, squash leaves, vine spinach, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, Vietnamese basil, Vietnamese perilla, komatsuna, leeks, and spinach, grown with either organic or synthetic fertilizers. The findings indicate that the type of fertilizer significantly influences nitrate accumulation and vitamin C content in these vegetables. Organic fertilizers were found to reduce nitrate levels and increase vitamin C content in amaranth greens, katuk, morning glory, squash leaves, vine spinach, leaf lettuce, Vietnamese basil, Vietnamese perilla, and spinach compared to the results for synthetic fertilizers. However, high nitrate concentrations in leaf lettuce, komatsuna, and spinach pose potential health risks. The study also identified elevated nitrate levels in vegetables that are not currently regulated. Furthermore, more than half of the samples contained nitrite, for which no maximum permissible level has been established. These findings underscore the importance of organic vegetable cultivation in enhancing both human health and environmental sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrient Management for Better Crop Production)
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