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Agronomy
Special Issues
Agricultural Waste Management in a Circular Economy Perspective
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Agricultural Waste Management in a Circular Economy Perspective

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 3466

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Naseer Hussain

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Life Sciences, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India
Interests: nutrient recycling; waste management; composting and vermicomposting; biochar; greenhouse gas emissions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agricultural waste represents a huge reservoir of biomass resources that is largely untapped and is increasingly becoming a waste of serious environmental and economic concern, including residues from crop production (such as plant stalks, drops and fruit culls), agroindustries, livestock units (such as animal manures, meat wastes, etc.) and aquaculture. Globally, there is an increasing demand for adoptable technologies for the safe and sustainable utilization of agricultural wastes. The concept of a circular economy, in which every waste or byproduct is converted into a potential useable product, is increasingly being adopted in the utilization of agricultural biomass. To further implement the circular economy concept into agricultural waste management, we launched this Special Issue titled “Agricultural Waste Management in a Circular Economy Perspective”.

In this Special Issue, we intend to explore advanced processes, challenges, potential risks and environmental implications of agricultural waste management. We also aim to understand how different waste management technologies contribute to the circular economy. Research/review articles focusing on, but not limited to, the following areas are welcomed for submission:

1) Challenges in agricultural waste management;

2) Environmental implications of current management technologies;

3) Advances in the anaerobic digestion process, especially for lignocellulosic wastes (and their economic assessment);

4) Tapping into agricultural waste for high-value chemicals.

Dr. Naseer Hussain
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. Agronomy 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

  • anaerobic digestion
  • agricultural residual resources
  • livestock manures
  • nutrient recycling
  • thermophilic composting
  • lifecycle assessment
  • biofertilizers
  • biocomposites
  • greenhouse gas emissions

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2181 KiB  
Article
Soil Habitats Are Affected by Fungal Waste Recycling on Farmland in Agro-Pastoral Ecotone in Northern China
by Feiyan Zhao, Shiling Shi, Ruibing Meng, Ze Ma and Zhongju Meng
Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2432; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092432 - 21 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 741
Abstract
As part of the ecological barrier and an essential element of food security, the agro-pastoral ecotone is vital in northern China. Since soil fertility in northern China is low due to frequent surface disturbances, it is necessary to improve the properties of the [...] Read more.
As part of the ecological barrier and an essential element of food security, the agro-pastoral ecotone is vital in northern China. Since soil fertility in northern China is low due to frequent surface disturbances, it is necessary to improve the properties of the soil. This study aims to examine the impact of fungal residue return on soil properties based on six treatments (CK: 0 kg/40 m2; R3: 90 kg/40 m2; R5: 150 kg/40 m2; R7: 210 kg/40 m2; R9: 270 kg/40 m2; R11: 330 kg/40 m2;) of fungal residue return concentration experimental data from 0 to 30 cm soil depth. The results showed that the effect of fungal residue returning on soil habits was greater at 0–10 cm of the surface layer. The bulk density can be reduced to 25.83% of CK, and water content can be increased up to 26.26%. Adding fungal residue to the field led to a greater increase in soil parameters (SOM and AP), and this characteristic effect continued as the return concentration increased. The number of soil bacteria and actinomycetes remained stable, and the amount of fungi was at its lowest. Compared with CK, the number of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes increased by 1.94 times, 1.46 times, and 1.71 times, respectively. After the residue was returned to the field, AK had the strongest correlation with other factors (p < 0.01), and microorganism and enzyme activities were strongly correlated (p < 0.01). In conclusion, this study presents a new method of resource utilization of downstream wastes in the food industry while simultaneously providing natural, pollution-free improvements to the soil, which is very beneficial to increasing crop yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Waste Management in a Circular Economy Perspective)
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16 pages, 1242 KiB  
Article
Quantitative and Qualitative Traits of Duckweed (Lemna minor) Produced on Growth Media with Pig Slurry
by Marcin Sońta, Justyna Więcek, Ewa Szara, Anna Rekiel, Anna Zalewska and Martyna Batorska
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1951; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071951 - 24 Jul 2023
Viewed by 2149
Abstract
Duckweed is a plant with high phytoremediation abilities, which is why it is used in the process of cleaning the aquatic environment. The present study aimed to determine the effect of various concentrations of pig slurry added to the growth media used to [...] Read more.
Duckweed is a plant with high phytoremediation abilities, which is why it is used in the process of cleaning the aquatic environment. The present study aimed to determine the effect of various concentrations of pig slurry added to the growth media used to produce duckweed (Lemna minor) (laboratory Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW) (experimental groups 1–9, pig slurry concentration (%): 1—2.00, 2—1.50, 3—1.00, 4—0.75, 5—0.50, 6—0.25, 7—0.12, 8—0.06, 9—0.03, control group 0—0.00). The contents of nutrients in the growth media could be classified as high (gr. 1–3), optimal (gr. 4–6), and deficient (gr. 7–9). Analyses were conducted for duckweed yield and growth medium parameters (pig slurry concentration, pH, salinity, temperature, TDS, and EC) on days 0, 10, 20, and 30 of the experiment. No growth or poor growth of duckweed were noted in groups 1, 6–9, and 0. In turn, satisfactory yields of duckweed green mass were recorded in groups 3–5, which allowed choosing them for further observations and analyses, including proximate composition (including protein content); contents of Ca, Mg, K, Na, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Al, Cr, and α-tocopherol; and carotenoids—β-carotene, α-carotene, violaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein, amino acids, fatty acids as well as N-NH4 and N-NO3. The plant material had an acceptable proximate composition and nutritionally safe analyzed component contents. Appropriate, stable growth medium conditions allowed the production of satisfactory duckweed yields. The study results allowed us to conclude that it is feasible to obtain feed material meeting basic quality standards by maintaining a closed circuit of duckweed culture, and use in the agricultural environment is possible through harnessing pig slurry for its production and ensuring its optimal growth conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Waste Management in a Circular Economy Perspective)
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