Advances in the Sustainable Management of the Soil of Horticultural Ecosystems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 2987
Special Issue Editors
Interests: Viticulture; horticulture, soil management, biodiversity
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In orchards, in recent decades an abandonment of traditional cultivation systems has been observed. New cultivation strategies were proposed, mainly to respond to mechanization needs, and now are currently being used in various agro-ecological contexts. These changes in soil management strategies, aimed at reducing farming costs, in some cases have amplified the impact of agro-ecosystems on the environment. Numerous scientific publications report the negative consequences of adopting unsuitable or poorly calibrated soil management strategies with the real needs of the orchard and/or of the soil that hosts it. A loss of chemical and biological fertility, the increase in erosive phenomena, the depletion of water resources, as well as the generalized use of weeding and the pollution of the groundwater, could all be consequences of inappropriate soil management. This Special Issue aims to encourage the dissemination of original scientific works and revisiting contributions, which propose innovative aspects in soil management able to promote greater agronomic, environmental and economic sustainability of the orchard agro-ecosystems. The scientific papers that can be considered for this Special Issue may include several topics, starting with the use of organic soil improvers and/or the reuse of leftovers of cultivation, as well as the use of cover crops in improving soil and crop productivity. Manuscripts that report activities aiming to preserve organic matter and soil water availability, or innovative soil management strategies to support the mitigation of current climate changes, are also welcome.
Prof. Giovanni Nieddu
Dr. Luca Mercenaro
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Sustainable agriculture
- Cropping systems
- Soil management and weed control
- Climate change
- Conservation Agriculture
