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Plants
Special Issues
Cereal Crop Field Performance, Growth Optimization, and Physiology
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Cereal Crop Field Performance, Growth Optimization, and Physiology

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Physiology and Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 638

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yunji Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Joint International Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China
Interests: agronomy; crop production; quality improvement; crop physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cereal crops, as the cornerstone of global food security, face unprecedented challenges posed by climate change, resource scarcity, and growing population demands. This Special Issue focuses on the integration of cereal crop field application, growth regulation, and physiology to promote high-yield, high-quality, and sustainable production. It collects cutting-edge studies covering multiple dimensions, from evaluating cereal field performance (e.g., yield stability, quality traits) to exploring growth optimization strategies via precise cultivation and genetic improvement, and deciphering the physiological mechanisms underlying cereal crop performance (e.g., stress resistance, photosynthetic efficiency). By bridging basic research and practical applications, this Special Issue provides valuable insights for researchers, agronomists, and policymakers, contributing to innovative solutions for cereal production improvement worldwide. Reviews and research papers are welcome.

Dr. Yunji Xu
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 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.

Keywords

  • cereal crops
  • cultivation approaches
  • genetic improvement
  • agronomic traits
  • physiological properties
  • crop yield and quality

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 533 KB  
Article
Effects of Nitrogen Application Rates and Nitrogen Topdressing at Different Leaf Growth Stages on the Yield, Nitrogen Absorption, and Utilization of Nanjing 9108
by Zheshu Xu, Tao Li, Jingjing Cui, Jianghui Yu, Guangyan Li, Ying Zhu, Guodong Liu, Fangfu Xu, Qun Hu and Haiyan Wei
Plants 2026, 15(4), 668; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15040668 - 23 Feb 2026
Viewed by 405
Abstract
The effects of nitrogen (N) application rates and N topdressing at different leaf growth stages on the yield, N absorption, and utilization of japonica rice cultivar Nanjing 9108 were studied to screen the optimal N management mode for high yield and high N [...] Read more.
The effects of nitrogen (N) application rates and N topdressing at different leaf growth stages on the yield, N absorption, and utilization of japonica rice cultivar Nanjing 9108 were studied to screen the optimal N management mode for high yield and high N use efficiency. A field experiment was conducted from 2023 to 2024, with nine N regulation treatments (94–351 kg ha−1) established through dynamic allocation of basal, tillering, and topdressing fertilizers. The results showed that with the increase of N application rate, the yield and N use efficiency of Nanjing 9108 first increased and then decreased. At a total N application rate of 270 kg ha−1, the N6 treatment (basal N + tiller N + topdressing at the 13th leaf stage) demonstrated optimal overall performance, achieving the highest yield and N use efficiency. Topdressing at the 13th leaf stage (coinciding with young panicle differentiation) promoted spikelet differentiation and large panicle formation, increasing grains per panicle by 2.36–2.20% compared to other treatments under the same N rate. The N6 treatment exhibited enhanced N uptake and utilization: N accumulation increased by 39.27–67.12% during the elongating to heading stage and by 7.14–62.24% during heading to maturity, while N apparent efficiency and agronomic efficiency rose by 3.51–14.68% and 29.22–58.25%, respectively. At heading, the proportion of high-effective leaf area in N6 was 1.52–7.05% higher than in N4, N5, and N7 treatments, accompanied by a slower leaf area decay rate. These traits provided sustained photosynthetic support for dry matter accumulation in mid-to-late growth stages. Consequently, dry matter accumulation in N6 increased by 5.85–33.44% (elongating to heading) and 0.42–26.98% (heading to maturity), leading to a yield advantage of 3.8–17.2% over other treatments. In summary, the N management strategy combining basal, tiller, and 13th-leaf topdressing at 270 kg ha−1 is most effective for achieving both high yield and high N efficiency in Nanjing 9108. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cereal Crop Field Performance, Growth Optimization, and Physiology)
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