Special Issue "Sustainable Soil and Field Management Practices in Agricultural Ecosystems under Climatic Challenges"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vasileios Tzanakakis
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), P.O. BOX 1939, GR 710 04, Heraklion-Crete, Greece
Interests: quality of soil and water resources; wastewater treatment with land treatment systems; effluent reuse in agriculture.
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Theocharis Chatzistathis
E-Mail Website
Chief Guest Editor
Hellenic Agricultural Organization (H.A.O.) ‘Demeter’ (Institute of Soil and Water Resources), Thermi-Thessaloniki 57001, Greece
Interests: plant nutrition; fertilization (inorganic and organic); nutritional physiology; soil fertility; sustainable agriculture; sustainable oliveculture; organic agriculture; crop management; crop production; nutrient management; soil analysis; organic matter

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cost crop production has significantly increased during the last few decades. This has happened mainly due to the increase in the prices of fertilizers and plant protection products. Furthermore, imprudent use of chemical fertilizers and plant protection substances and the implementation of improper/unsustainable field management practices have led to the degradation of soil (e.g., decrease in microorganism activity, decline in soil organic C, and impaired soil function) and water (e.g., high NO3- and phosphate content, which leads to eutrophication, and increase in soluble salts) resources. In addition, some researchers have found that fruit and vegetables produced under sustainable management are of higher quality and healthier, compared to those produced with conventional systems. Thus, the combined need to (i) protect the environment; (ii) enhance the sustainability of agroecosystems; (iii) ameliorate fruit quality; and (iv) decrease cost production enhances the necessity toward adopting more sustainable, environmental friendly, and cost-effective soil and field management practices in order to support sufficient crop nutrition and economically viable agricultural production.

Horticultural crops (tree and vegetable crops, Vitis vinifera L.) are among the most suitable ones for sustainable management production systems. These systems could meet climate change mitigation and adaptation goals, driven by global warming and climate variability, and successfully respond to problems that have arisen by the increasing demands in the human population in developing countries. However, further knowledge is needed in order to boost the sustainability and efficient use of inputs and natural resources (fertilizers, irrigation water) to crops, via also decreasing the negative impacts on the environment and climate (this may be mainly achieved by reducing nutrient losses—especially those of N by denitrification); in parallel, the targeted future research directions should also include maintaining sufficient and qualitative horticultural crop productions.

This Special Issue of Sustainability focuses on sustainable soil, fertilization, and other field management practices (mainly—but not exclusively—in horticultural crops) in order to address the abovementioned aspects. Thus, we call on our colleagues, who are experts on these topics, for their submission of manuscripts dealing with sustainable nutrient and field management practices aimed at decreasing fertilizers and irrigation water demand/input.

The main topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Presenting and thoroughly discussing the benefits and drawbacks for agroecosystems in adopting sustainable nutrient and field management practices in horticultural crops;
  • Emphasizing sustainable field practices (e.g., pruning material recycling, manure application, reduced or no tillage systems, cover crops, etc.) targeted at decreasing fertilizers and irrigation water demand/input in crops;
  • Providing insights into current and future technological solutions, promising the sustainable and efficient use of natural resources by crops;
  • Valorizing the impact of sustainable management on the decrease of cost production;
  • Discussing how sustainable management systems for horticultural crops may ameliorate fruit quality, compared to conventional management systems;
  • Evaluating how nutrient, C, and water footprints could be ameliorated via sustainable practices in crops;
  • Comparing N losses (via denitrification and leaching) and N-use efficiency (as well as those of other nutrients) between conventional and sustainable management systems;
  • Thoroughly discussing and evaluating the impact of sustainable management practices on soil health and functioning by examining soil microorganisms’ populations, community, and activity responses, in particular those involved in the C and N cycles;
  • Proposing innovative soil and field sustainability aspects to enhance soil fertility and satisfy the nutritional needs of horticultural and other crops.

Dr. Theocharis Chatzistathis
Dr. Vasileios Tzanakakis
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 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

  • Olea europaea L.
  • Vitis vinifera L.
  • vegetable crops
  • horticultural crops
  • sustainable horticulture
  • sustainable agriculture
  • sustainable crop management
  • organic fertilization
  • plant nutrition
  • soil fertility
  • soil microorganisms
  • soil health
  • organic matter
  • nutrient use efficiency
  • water use efficiency

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Article
Terra Preta Properties in Northwestern Amazonia (Colombia)
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7088; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137088 - 24 Jun 2021
Viewed by 402
Abstract
Whereas many researchers still approach Terra Preta (TP) as a soil category, new evidence suggests that TP refers to a directional grading of soil property changes (i.e., color, pH, nutrients, etc.) within human-made soils, originating from human activities in pre-Columbian times. Currently, most [...] Read more.
Whereas many researchers still approach Terra Preta (TP) as a soil category, new evidence suggests that TP refers to a directional grading of soil property changes (i.e., color, pH, nutrients, etc.) within human-made soils, originating from human activities in pre-Columbian times. Currently, most TP research focuses on the Brazilian part of the Amazon basin, but only little information is available on TP soils in the Colombian Amazon. Here, we sampled four TP and surrounding soils in the Colombian Amazon region at different soil depths and analyzed them for (i) general soil properties such as color, pH and texture, (ii) soil organic carbon and black carbon (BC) contents, the latter using benzene polycarboxylic acids as molecular marker, (iii) phosphorus availability based on sequential fractionation, and (iv) microbial residue contents using amino sugars. Our data from Colombia’s middle Caquetá River and Leticia confirmed that SOC, BC, and total P were present in significantly higher concentrations in the TP areas than the surrounding soils, while pH values and microbial residue contents were unchanged. The enrichment of P forms comprised both easily extractable and stable P pools, which both dominated to a different degree, both in TP and adjacent soils. The different degree of SOC, BC and P enrichment suggests different amounts of waste disposal by the ancient populations at different TP sites, now warranting further research for reconstructing ancient population sizes from TP chemical analyses. Full article
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Article
Impact of Application of Abscisic Acid, Benzothiadiazole and Chitosan on Berry Quality Characteristics and Plant Associated Microbial Communities of Vitis vinifera L var. Mouhtaro Plants
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5802; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115802 - 22 May 2021
Viewed by 571
Abstract
The phenolic profile of the grape berries is a key quality factor for the red grapevine varieties and several techniques have been applied to improve it. An innovative technique is the application of resistance elicitors and phytohormones. In the present study, leaves and [...] Read more.
The phenolic profile of the grape berries is a key quality factor for the red grapevine varieties and several techniques have been applied to improve it. An innovative technique is the application of resistance elicitors and phytohormones. In the present study, leaves and berries of a Greek red indigenous variety (Mouhtaro) sprayed with two elicitors, benzothiadiazole and chitosan and a plant hormone abscisic acid, during veraison. Physicochemical and phenolic characteristics of the berries and microbial communities of rhizosphere, phyllosphere and carposphere were analyzed at harvest. Differences in the microbial communities on different plant compartments were observed after the application of the plant activators. Chitosan treatment increased the abundance of the beneficial lactic acid bacteria, while the abscisic acid treatment decreased the presence of spoilage fungi on the carposphere. Treatments differentiate total phenolics, anthocyanins and in the chemical characteristics of grape must with chitosan treated grapes had increased anthocyanins and skin-derived phenolics that correlated positively with the microbial taxa that was discriminant by LefSe analysis. This research provides an overview of the effect of plant activators on the microbial ecology and grape quality of the Greek variety Mouhtaro and presents the potential of new and innovative approaches in the field of sustainable viticulture. Full article
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Article
Effects of Salinity and Rootstock on Nutrient Element Concentrations and Physiology in Own-Rooted or Grafted to 1103 P and 101-14 Mgt Rootstocks of Merlot and Cabernet Franc Grapevine Cultivars under Climate Change
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2477; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052477 - 25 Feb 2021
Viewed by 361
Abstract
Under the current and future climate crisis, a significant rise in soil salinity will likely affect vine productivity in several Mediterranean regions. During the present research, the rootstock effects on salinity tolerance of Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapevine cultivars were studied. In a [...] Read more.
Under the current and future climate crisis, a significant rise in soil salinity will likely affect vine productivity in several Mediterranean regions. During the present research, the rootstock effects on salinity tolerance of Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapevine cultivars were studied. In a pot hydroponic culture, own-rooted Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapevine cultivars or grafted onto the rootstocks 1103 P and 101-14 Mgt were drip-irrigated with saline water. A completely randomized 3 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment was designed with two vine rootstocks or own-rooted vines, two scion cultivars, and 100 mM NaCl salinity or control treatments, with six replications. A significant effect of scion cultivar, rootstock, and salinity was observed for most of the measured parameters. At the end of salinity stress period, leaf, shoot, root, and trunk nutrient concentrations were measured. Salinity stress increased Chloride (Cl) and Sodium (Na) concentrations in all parts of the vines and decreased leaf concentrations of Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Nitrogen (N), and Iron (Fe). In contrast, salinity stress increased leaf Boron (B) concentrations, whereas that of Manganese (Mn) remained unaffected. Leaf chlorophyll concentration decreased from 42% to 40% after thirty and sixty days of salt treatment, respectively. A similar trend was observed for the CCM-200 relative chlorophyll content. Salinity significantly decreased steam water potential (Ws), net CO2 assimilation rate (A), and stomatal conductance (gs) in all cases of grafted or own-rooted vines. Sixty days after the beginning of salt treatment, total Phenolics and PSII maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm) decreased significantly. The rootstock 1103 P seems to be a better excluder for Na and Cl and more tolerant to salinity compared to 101-14 Mgt rootstock. Full article
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Article
The Use of Crop Yield Autocorrelation Data as a Sustainable Approach to Adjust Agronomic Inputs
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2362; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042362 - 22 Feb 2021
Viewed by 473
Abstract
Agricultural fields have natural within-field soil variations that can be extensive, are usually contiguous, and are not always traceable. As a result, in many cases, site-specific attention is required to adjust inputs and optimize crop performance. Researchers, such as agronomists, agricultural engineers, or [...] Read more.
Agricultural fields have natural within-field soil variations that can be extensive, are usually contiguous, and are not always traceable. As a result, in many cases, site-specific attention is required to adjust inputs and optimize crop performance. Researchers, such as agronomists, agricultural engineers, or economists and other scientists, have shown increased interest in performing yield monitor data analysis to improve farmers’ decision-making concerning the better management of the agronomic inputs in the fields, while following a much more sustainable approach. In this case, spatial analysis of crop yield data with the form of spatial autocorrelation analysis can be used as a practical sustainable approach to locate statistically significant low-production areas. The resulted insights can be used as prescription maps on the tractors to reduce overall inputs and farming costs. This aim of this work is to present the benefits of conducting spatial analysis of yield crop data as a sustainable approach. Current work proves that the implementation of this process is costless, easy to perform and provides a better understanding of the current agronomic needs for better decision-making within a short time, adopting a sustainable approach. Full article
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Article
Inorganic and Organic Amendments Affect Soil Fertility, Nutrition, Photosystem II Activity, and Fruit Weight and May Enhance the Sustainability of Solanum lycopersicon L. (cv. ‘Mountain Fresh’) Crop
Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 9028; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219028 - 30 Oct 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 515
Abstract
One of the most important issues for modern agriculture is how to decrease fertilization rates and enhance the sustainability of crops, without decreasing yields. Two inorganic (zeolite—zeo; vermiculite—ver) amendments and their mixtures with an organic soil amendment (goat manure) (i.e., zeo + ver, [...] Read more.
One of the most important issues for modern agriculture is how to decrease fertilization rates and enhance the sustainability of crops, without decreasing yields. Two inorganic (zeolite—zeo; vermiculite—ver) amendments and their mixtures with an organic soil amendment (goat manure) (i.e., zeo + ver, manure + ver, manure + zeo) were tested, and compared to the application of a controlled release fertilizer (CRF), in order to investigate if they were able to satisfy the nutritional needs of Solanum lycopersicon L. plants. For this purpose, a 112-day pot experiment was performed. After zeo and manure application, exchangeable K was increased from 16.5 times to 37.5 times. At the end of the experiment, total plant biomass was significantly higher in the CRF treatment, compared to the ver treatments (ver, ver + manure). Leaf K concentration was significantly higher in the zeo treatment (5.93% dw), compared to those determined in the CRF, ver, and ver + manure. In contrast, significantly higher foliar N was found in the CRF (4.83% dw) and zeo + ver (4.24% dw) treatments, compared to manure + ver. Finally, photosystem II (PSII) activity was significantly higher in ver, and this was ascribed to the optimum foliar Mn found in this treatment (138 mg kg−1 dw). It is expected that these data will provide a thorough insight towards decreasing chemical fertilization inputs and enhancing the sustainability of Solanum lycopersicon L. crop. Full article
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