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Plants
Special Issues
Agricultural Soil Management for Crop Cultivation and Productivity
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Agricultural Soil Management for Crop Cultivation and Productivity

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 407

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jian-Ying Qi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: conservation agriculture; agro-ecosystem; soil carbon sequestration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Baijian Lin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: conservation agriculture model and carbon sequestration and emission reduction; conservation farming and farmland ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil management is the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, directly influencing crop productivity, environmental health, and food security. The journal Plants is pleased to announce a Special Issue on “Agricultural Soil Management for Crop Cultivation and Productivity”. This Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of innovative soil management practices that enhance crop yields while promoting ecological resilience. We welcome research and review articles exploring topics such as soil fertility enhancement, precision nutrient management, organic and conservation tillage practices, soil microbiome dynamics, water retention strategies, and the integration of cover crops or biochar to boost productivity. Contributions addressing soil health restoration, carbon sequestration, and climate-adaptive cultivation techniques are particularly encouraged. This Special Issue seeks to provide a platform for cutting-edge research to inform sustainable agricultural practices that ensure long-term productivity and environmental stewardship.

Dr. Jian-Ying Qi
Dr. Baijian Lin
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

  • agricultural management
  • soil health
  • precision agriculture
  • carbon sequestration

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 4363 KB  
Article
Optimizing Plant Density and Row Spacing Enhances Growth, Yield and Quality of Waxy Maize on the Loess Plateau
by Lin Xie, Bao-Jie Su, Ya-Nan Zhang, Dong-Sheng Zhang, Jing-Jing Han, Hui-Ming Li, Wan-Jun Feng, Tian-Qing Du, Fu-Zhu Cui and Jian-Fu Xue
Plants 2025, 14(18), 2902; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14182902 - 18 Sep 2025
Viewed by 234
Abstract
Waxy maize (Zea mays L. ceratina) is extensively cultivated and exhibits substantial market demand in China; however, its yield and quality improvement remain constrained by relatively underdeveloped cultivation techniques. Optimizing plant density and row spacing is critical to improving the yield [...] Read more.
Waxy maize (Zea mays L. ceratina) is extensively cultivated and exhibits substantial market demand in China; however, its yield and quality improvement remain constrained by relatively underdeveloped cultivation techniques. Optimizing plant density and row spacing is critical to improving the yield and nutritional quality of waxy maize, yet their combined effects remain insufficiently explored. A split-plot design evaluated two plant densities, i.e., 5.25 × 104 plants ha−1 (PD5.25) and 6.75 × 104 plants ha−1 (PD6.75), and three row configurations, i.e., 80 + 40 cm wide–narrow rows (RS8-4), 100 + 20 cm wide–narrow rows (RS10-2) and conventional 60 + 60 cm equal rows (RS6-6). This study aims to identify the optimal cultivation configuration for waxy maize in the Loess Plateau region. Results showed that the RS8-4 configuration maximized agronomic traits, dry matter accumulation, and yield relative to RS6-6 and RS10-2 treatments. Specifically, RS8-4 reduced the insertion angle of the lower ear leaf by 12.4% (p < 0.05) and ear height by 8.3% while increasing yield by 19.86–20.00% compared to RS6-6 and RS10-2 treatments. At fresh-market maturity, dry matter accumulation under RS8-4 treatment increased significantly by 34.0% with higher plant density. Under PD6.75, RS8-4 boosted dry matter by 29.8% and 39.4% versus RS6-6 and RS10-2, respectively. Under the RS8-4 and PD6.5 configurations, dry matter accumulation reached 13.56 t ha−1 and a yield of 9.94 t ha−1 was achieved in 2022. In summary, the combination of the PD6.75 density and the RS8-4 row spacing configuration achieved the optimal yield for the ‘Jinnuo 20’ cultivar in the Loess Plateau region. This approach provides a scalable planting framework for high-yield waxy maize production in the area, while demonstrating that optimized plant density and row spacing represent not only a key technical measure for enhancing productivity but also a core agronomic strategy for improving resource-use efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Soil Management for Crop Cultivation and Productivity)
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