Advances in Phytomanagement for Soil Health Restoration and Sustainability
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant–Soil Interactions".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 572
Special Issue Editors
Interests: crop nutrition dynamics; sulfur physiology; crop agronomic biofortification physiology through foliar application; phytoremediation physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: applied botany; phytoremediation; phytomanagement; soil health improvement; industrial cash crops; innovative farming systems; plant biodiversity in contaminated and marginal lands
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Demographic projections estimate that the global population will reach 9 billion by 2050 and level off between 9 and 12 billion people by the end of the century. As a result, global crop demand is expected to increase by 100–110 % between the present and 2050. However, the potential to expand the area available for arable farming is limited and the demand for land to produce food, fodder, and fiber, as well as for housing, will increasingly compete with the need of bio-based products and bioenergy. Marginal, contaminated, and saline land represent a vast underutilized resource that could—and should—be used in a sustainable way to grow plants for a large variety of profitable purposes.
Phytoremediation is a non-invasive technology that uses green plants to remove contaminants from the environment or to render them harmless. The two main sub-technologies of phytoremediation are: (i) phytoextraction, where plants remove metals from the soil and concentrate them into their harvestable parts; and (ii) phytostabilization, where plants reduce the mobility and bioavailability of contaminants in the environment either by immobilization or by prevention of migration.
A more recent aspect of phytoremediation is phytomanagement, which integrates remediation strategies with sustainable and profitable site management options. This innovative approach results in a net gain in soil functions and ecosystem services, while also generating economic revenue. To ensure the sustainability of phytomanagement applications, it is essential to use fast-growing, high-biomass-yielding, and value-added crops that can serve as feedstock for a wide range of industrial-scale products, such as biomaterials, bioplastics, pulp for paper, bio-lubricants, biochemicals, biofuels, and biochar. Special consideration should be given to using feedstock derived from contaminated sites. Promising plant candidates include several industrial non-food crops, which can produce raw materials with significant economic value. Examples of suitable crops are: flax, kenaf, hemp, miscanthus, switchgrass, giant reed, reed canary grass, castor, cardoon, willow, poplar, oak, eucalyptus, etc. Innovative agricultural practices and circular economy approaches are critical for the success of phytomanagement technologies. These strategies, coupled with sustainably designed value chains, enhance resource efficiency, boost economic viability, and support the creation of eco-friendly products, ultimately fostering long-term environmental and socioeconomic benefits.
This Special Issue invites original research, reviews, modeling approaches, and methods that examine the adaptability, growth, farming systems, and environmental and socioeconomic benefits of cultivating high-yielding industrial crops for the phytomanagement of marginal, saline, and contaminated lands in the context of climate change, highlighting the critical role of innovative agricultural practices, circular economy approaches, and sustainably designed value chains in advancing these technologies.
Prof. Dr. Dimitris L. Bouranis
Dr. Eleni G. Papazoglou
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. 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
- phytoremediation
- industrial non-food crops
- adaptability
- innovative agricultural practices
- biostimulants
- circular economy
- sustainable value chains
- bioenergy
- bioproducts
- sustainability assessment
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
