Special Issue "Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Soil Fertility"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 March 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Thierry Becquer
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Univ Montpellier, Eco & Sols, IRD, INRA,CIRAD,Montpellier SupAgro, F-34000 Montpellier, France
Interests: soil science; biogeochemistry; tropical soils; ferralsols/oxisols; soil fertility; nutrient availability; nutrient cycling; soil acidity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agriculture faces to a huge challenge. Food production must be increased substantially in the next decades whereas adverse environmental impacts associated with agriculture need to be mitigated in order to develop more sustainable production systems. This goal is particularly difficult to achieve in (tropical) developing countries, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where food production capacity is severely limited due to soil fertility depletion related to multiple nutrient deficiencies.

The intensification of food production requires soil and land to be managed sustainably, including avoidance of negative nutrient balances and soil erosion, the build-up of soil carbon, and the retention of soil biological diversity thresholds to maintain essential functions managed by soil biota.

Thus, this Special Issue welcomes papers covering the many diverse areas implicated in improving soil fertility for a sustainably intensified agriculture. Papers focusing on management drivers allowing to more sustainable agriculture production systems are expected. Papers should explicitly cover farm- or field-level productivity and could have a specific focus on the following areas (themes not exhaustive):

  • the integrated management of soil fertility based on enhancing productivity through an appropriate management of inputs (fertilizers, mineral and organic soil amendments) aiming at maximizing nutrient use efficiency;
  • the production and management of biomass (including crop and woody residues, farmyard manure and compost, fertilizing organic matter of residual origin, biochars, etc.) to improve crop productivity and ensure the durability of different ecosystem services (soil carbon sequestration, functions managed by soil biota, erosion, etc.);
  • the role of below-ground functional biodiversity of soil macro- and microorganisms to provide multiple functions and services to agrosystem;
  • the role of above-ground biodiversity, through the use of different strategies of crop diversification, such as, agroforestry, intercropping of different crops, associated plant species (cover crops, companion crops, etc.) used for their agronomic or environmental purposes;
  • the effects of integrated livestock-agriculture production systems on nutrient cycling are also welcomed.

Dr. Thierry Becquer
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 papers will be 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. Sustainability 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 1900 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

  • integrated soil fertility management
  • nutrient balance
  • nutrient availability
  • fertilizers
  • mineral and organic soil amendments
  • biomass management
  • manure
  • compost
  • fertilizing organic matter of residual origin
  • biochar
  • functional biodiversity
  • below-ground biodiversity
  • soil macroorganisms
  • soil microorganisms
  • above-ground biodiversity
  • crop diversification
  • agroforestry
  • intercropping, cover crops
  • companion crops
  • integrated livestock-agriculture

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Agricultural Practices Modulate the Beneficial Activity of Bacterial-Feeding Nematodes for Plant Growth and Nutrition: Evidence from an Original Intact Soil Core Technique
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7181; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137181 - 26 Jun 2021
Viewed by 423
Abstract
Free-living nematodes have beneficial effects on plant growth and nutrition. Exploring how agricultural practices modulate these beneficial effects is still challenging. A study was conducted in Ferralsols from Madagascar from one unmanaged grassland and 16 upland rainfed rice fields, representative of different agricultural [...] Read more.
Free-living nematodes have beneficial effects on plant growth and nutrition. Exploring how agricultural practices modulate these beneficial effects is still challenging. A study was conducted in Ferralsols from Madagascar from one unmanaged grassland and 16 upland rainfed rice fields, representative of different agricultural practices: rotation, agroforestry and monoculture. Intact soil cores in plastic cylinders were sampled in the field to assess the effects of agricultural practices on changes in plant growth and nutrition induced by the presence of bacterial-feeding nematodes. The soil cores were fumigated to kill the nematodes and moistened with a filtered fresh soil suspension containing only microbial cells. A rice seed was introduced in the core, which was then incubated under natural climatic conditions for 40 days with or without inoculation of the bacterial-feeding nematode Acrobeloides sp. The inoculation of the nematodes induced lower, similar or higher plant biomass and nutrient content in comparison to the control according to the agricultural practices. Positive effects of Acrobeloides sp. on plant functions were frequent in soil cores sampled from fields with high plant diversity, especially from agroforestry systems. The intact soil core technique appears to be a robust means of mimicking field conditions and constitutes a promising tool to assess effects on soil processes of the ecological intensification of agricultural practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Soil Fertility)
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Article
Improved Method of Boron Fertilization in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)–Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) Cropping System in Upland Calcareous Soils
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5037; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095037 - 30 Apr 2021
Viewed by 397
Abstract
Calcareous soils are highly deficient in boron (B) due to having high levels of free CaCO3 and low organic matter. This has become one of the most important deficient micronutrients in Indian soil after zinc (Zn). For various rice (Oryza sativa [...] Read more.
Calcareous soils are highly deficient in boron (B) due to having high levels of free CaCO3 and low organic matter. This has become one of the most important deficient micronutrients in Indian soil after zinc (Zn). For various rice (Oryza sativa L.)-based cropping systems, B fertilization is essential for increasing crop productivity and the biofortification of the crop, thus a suitable soil application protocol for B fertilization is required for B-deficient soils. In a six-year experiment, different rates of B application, namely, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 kg ha−1 y−1, were evaluated to determine the effects of three different modes of B fertilization, i.e., applied only in the first year, applied in alternating years, and applied every year, in a rice (Oryza sativa L.)–Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) cropping system. It was observed that the application of B at 1.5 kg ha−1 every year or 2 kg ha−1 in alternate years resulted in the highest yield of rice and mustard, as well as the maximum system productivity of the rice–mustard cropping system. Application of 2 kg ha−1 of B in the initial year showed the maximum B uptake by rice, while application of 1.5–2.0 kg ha−1 of B every year resulted in the maximum B uptake by the mustard crop. Application of B at 2 kg ha−1 in alternate years or 1.5 kg ha−1 every year was the best B-application protocol in B-deficient calcareous soils for ensuring the highest productivity of the rice–mustard cropping system and B availability in the soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Soil Fertility)
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