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Agriculture
Special Issues
Efficient Use of Irrigation and Fertilizer to Increase Crop Yield
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Efficient Use of Irrigation and Fertilizer to Increase Crop Yield

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2023) | Viewed by 3786

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kyriakos Giannoulis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Agronomy and Applied Crop Physiology, Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 N. Ionia, Magnissia, Greece
Interests: cultivation of: aromatic-medicinal plants, energy plants, arable crops; creation of cultivation protocols; efficiency optimization; land use planning; environmental impacts from agriculture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the fact that agricultural productivity has increased recently, the environment has degraded due to the careless use of inputs, particularly water and fertilizers, which are crucial to production. Therefore, in order to maximize output and simultaneously safeguard the environment, it is important to promote research and communicate the findings in the area of crop selection for each appropriate region, combining the efficient use of irrigation and fertilization. Therefore, a deeper comprehension is essential for manipulating these variables with the aid of novel irrigation and fertilizing capabilities.

This Special Issue provides an assessment of more effective techniques of irrigation, fertilizer, and/or crop variety (or even novel crops previously seen in nature) to enhance performance while protecting the environment. Studies that will be proposed in this Special Issue include new crop varieties, more effective irrigation and fertilization practices, and new types of fertilizers. Numerous types of crops will be covered in research publications, such as cereals, legumes, industrial plants, vegetables, aromatic–medicinal plants, as well as field crops from different managed ecosystems. Original research, viewpoints, and reviews are all welcome types of articles.

Dr. Kyriakos Giannoulis
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 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. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • yield
  • fertilization
  • irrigation
  • biostimulants
  • arable crops
  • environment
  • cereals
  • legumes
  • vegetables
  • aromatic–medicinal crops

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1647 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Physico-Chemical Properties of Bean Seeds after Three Years of Digestate Use
by Milan Koszel, Stanisław Parafiniuk, Sławomir Kocira, Andrzej Bochniak, Artur Przywara, Edmund Lorencowicz, Pavol Findura and Atanas Zdravkov Atanasov
Agriculture 2024, 14(3), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14030486 - 16 Mar 2024
Viewed by 819
Abstract
Taking into consideration its physico-chemical properties, digestate should be used primarily as a fertiliser. The possible ways of using digestate as a fertiliser in agriculture were identified, and digestate collected from an agricultural biogas plant was tested for its macroelement and heavy metal [...] Read more.
Taking into consideration its physico-chemical properties, digestate should be used primarily as a fertiliser. The possible ways of using digestate as a fertiliser in agriculture were identified, and digestate collected from an agricultural biogas plant was tested for its macroelement and heavy metal content. The research was conducted on Haplic LUVISOLS soil according FAO classification. The area of the land plots was 75 m2. All measurements were carried out in ten replicates. Seed yield was determined at 2.6 t ha−1. The thousand-seed weight was similar in the three growing seasons, and averaged 171.49 g to 184.44 g for the three years under analysis. For the control object, the average thousand-seed weight from the three years of the experiment was 168.56 g. This parameter was significantly influenced by the year of analysis. The highest protein content was obtained in 2022 (an average of 20.3%), which was significantly higher than in 2021 (20.13%) and 2020 (20.12%). The analysis showed an increase in the average value for the three harvest years regarding the fat content of the multiflora bean seeds depending on the post-harvest digestate dose, ranging from 0.47% to 0.61%. In the control object, the average fat content for the three harvest years under analysis was 0.41%. The year under analysis had no significant impact on fat content. A positive correlation was found between the digestate dose and protein, fat, and carbohydrate contents per 100 g of beans. Increasing the dose resulted in statistically significant differences from the lower dose. The obtained results show an increase in macroelement content depending on the digestate dose applied. The average carbohydrate content per 100 g of beans for the three years under analysis ranged from 49.78 g to 54.01 g, while the calcium content per 100 g of beans ranged from 109.23 mg to 124.00 mg. In contrast, the magnesium content in 100 g of bean ranged from 129.91 g to 137.01 mg, the phosphorus content in 100 g of bean from 366.99 mg to 387.00 mg, and the potassium content in 100 g of bean from 1341.20 mg to 1394.06 mg. Statistical analysis revealed statistically significant differences except for potassium, where no differences were found for the two highest doses. In addition, no differences were found in the average phosphorus and potassium content between the years under analysis. The study showed an increase in yield depending on the amount of digestate applied. The highest dose used in the experiment provided the most nitrogen and macronutrients, with a positive effect on yield velocity, protein and fat content, micronutrients, and macronutrients in beans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Use of Irrigation and Fertilizer to Increase Crop Yield)
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10 pages, 671 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Efficiency of Different Nitrogen Fertilization Levels on Sorghum Yield and Quality Characteristics
by Dimitrios Bartzialis, Kyriakos D. Giannoulis, Ippolitos Gintsioudis and Nicholaos G. Danalatos
Agriculture 2023, 13(6), 1253; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13061253 - 15 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1444
Abstract
Sorghum is a Poaceae family plant that produces a lot of hay. A field experiment was carried out at the University of Thessaly’s experimental farm to investigate the hay yield and quality characteristics of six different sorghum varieties (V1: Buffalo grain, V2: Elite, [...] Read more.
Sorghum is a Poaceae family plant that produces a lot of hay. A field experiment was carried out at the University of Thessaly’s experimental farm to investigate the hay yield and quality characteristics of six different sorghum varieties (V1: Buffalo grain, V2: Elite, V3: Big Kahuna, V4: 25K1009, V5: 4264, and V6: 5D61) under different nitrogen fertilization levels (N1: 0, N2: 80, N3: 160, and N4: 240 kg ha−1, using urinary ammonia 40-0-0). Pea for silage production was established in the same field prior to sorghum cultivation. Hay yield was found to differ significantly between the tested varieties and was also influenced by nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen fertilization has a statistically significant effect on sorghum production, with a higher nitrogen supply contributing to a higher protein content in the sorghum yield. Other hay quality indicators, such as ash, NDF, and ADF, demonstrated differences between the different varieties and nitrogen fertilizer levels. According to the study, the variety that had stable output was “Elite”, which had good quality attributes and could be used as an alternative to feed production before sorghum development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Use of Irrigation and Fertilizer to Increase Crop Yield)
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16 pages, 2312 KiB  
Article
Production of Sweet Sorghum Bio-Feedstock on Technosol Using Municipal Sewage Sludge Treated with Flocculant, in Ukraine
by Mykola Kharytonov, Nadia Martynova, Mykhailo Babenko, Iryna Rula, Nicoleta Ungureanu and Vasilica Ștefan
Agriculture 2023, 13(6), 1129; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13061129 - 27 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 963
Abstract
This paper presents the influence of sewage sludge (SS) on the biometric parameters, absorption of mineral elements and thermal characteristics of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) grown on Technosol. Two types of sewage sludge were used: unmodified and modified with DAMET flocculant. [...] Read more.
This paper presents the influence of sewage sludge (SS) on the biometric parameters, absorption of mineral elements and thermal characteristics of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) grown on Technosol. Two types of sewage sludge were used: unmodified and modified with DAMET flocculant. Each type of sludge was applied in three doses (expressed as dry matter basis, DM): 20 t DM/ha, 40 t DM/ha and 60 t DM/ha, respectively. The yield of fresh biomass depended on the dose of sewage sludge: it increased by 14.5–41% and reached 104.6 t/ha after application of the sewage sludge with flocculant at a maximum rate of 60 t/ha. Sorghum biomass actively absorbs nutrients from the soil. Nitrogen was absorbed more actively; depending on the type and dose of sewage sludge application, its content in biomass increased from 12–40% (dose of 20 t/ha) to 80–112% (dose of 60 t/ha). By content in sorghum biomass, essential elements can be arranged in descending order as follows: Fe → Mn → Zn → Cu. Sorghum shows a low ability to accumulate some heavy metals in aboveground biomass. Despite the fact that large doses of sewage sludge contributed to an increase in the content of nickel, cadmium and lead in the substrate by 1.8–5.6 times, the ratio of the content of these elements in plants to the content in the substrate remained low. Sewage sludge affects the process of thermal degradation of sorghum biomass. The decomposition of the main components occurs at lower temperatures, and, as a rule, at higher rates. Sewage sludge (especially with flocculant) contributes to a more complete combustion of biomass. The results showed that sewage sludge with flocculant at a dose of 40 t/ha is the most optimal fertilizer option for growing sweet sorghum on such Technosols as loess-like loam. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Use of Irrigation and Fertilizer to Increase Crop Yield)
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