Integrating Biochar and Biostimulants in Crop Improvement: Mechanisms, Applications, and Future Directions

Dear Colleagues,

Biochar and biostimulants are gaining global attention as innovative tools for improving agricultural productivity while ensuring environmental sustainability. Biochar possesses unique physical and chemical properties that allow it to enhance soil fertility, mitigate biotic and abiotic stresses, increase carbon sequestration, and promote plant development. Biostimulants, including humic acids, amino acids, microbial inoculants, and natural extracts, stimulate plant physiological functions, improve nutrient efficiency, and enhance stress tolerance. This Special Issue aims to bring together interdisciplinary research on the roles, mechanisms, and applications of biochar and biostimulants across various agroecosystems. We encourage contributions that utilize advanced techniques, including omics, modeling, field trials, and life cycle assessments, to explore how these amendments function across soil–plant systems.

Key themes include the following:

• Biochar and biostimulants for soil quality improvement;
• Roles in mitigating abiotic stress and soil contamination;
• Effects on plant growth, physiology, and crop yield;
• Nutrient transport, signaling, and stress adaptation;
• Physiological, biochemical, and molecular impacts;
• Gene expression and regulatory networks;
• Carbon cycling, sequestration, and climate-resilient farming;
• Integration into sustainable and smart agriculture strategies.

Dr. Periyasamy Rathinapriya
Dr. Theivanayagam Maharajan
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.