Smart Agriculture for Sustainable Crop Production: From Precision Technologies to Field Applications
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Modeling".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editors
Interests: agriculture; agriculture engineering; energy in agriculture; sustainable agriculture; precision agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: statistics; multivariate analysis; plant breeding; biometrics; remote sensing; sensors; genomic selection; geostatistics; precision agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: UAV; random forest; nitrogen; maize
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Precision agriculture represents a paradigm shift in crop management, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to optimize resource efficiency, enhance sustainability, and address global food security challenges. This Special Issue of Plants explores the integration of advanced tools, such as AI-driven analytics, hyperspectral imaging, IoT sensors, and autonomous machinery, into agricultural systems. We invite contributions that dissect the synergies between technological innovation and plant science, highlighting scalable solutions for diverse agroecosystems. This Special Issue will bridge the gap between theoretical innovation and on-ground implementation, highlighting technologies accessible to both industrial farms and smallholders. Submissions should demonstrate tangible outcomes, e.g., enhanced crop resilience, resource savings, or socio-economic improvements, while addressing scalability and adoption barriers. We seek original research, reviews, and case studies addressing the following:
- Sensing and Monitoring: Remote/proximal sensing for plant phenotyping, soil health assessment, and stress detection;
- Data Analytics: Machine learning models for yield prediction, disease identification, and nutrient management;
- Automation: Robotics for precision planting, irrigation, and harvesting; drone applications in crop scouting;
- Resource Optimization: Variable-rate technology (VRT) for water, fertilizers, and pesticides;
- Sustainability Metrics: Quantifying environmental benefits (e.g., reduced emissions, biodiversity conservation) and economic impacts;
- Cross-disciplinary Approaches: Blockchain for traceability, genomics-assisted breeding, and climate-resilient practices.
Prof. Dr. Fábio Henrique Rojo Baio
Prof. Dr. Paulo Eduardo Teodoro
Dr. Larissa Pereira Ribeiro Teodoro
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
- sensors
- remote sensing
- digital agriculture
- high-precision phenotyping
- computational intelligence
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.
