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Agronomy
Special Issues
Efficient Utilization of Water and Fertilizer Resources on Farmland Ecology
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Efficient Utilization of Water and Fertilizer Resources on Farmland Ecology

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 3158

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xunbo Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-environment and Agro-products Safety, Agricultural College, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: water utilization; photosynthetic physiology; water-fertilizer interaction; nitrogen use efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Huifang Han

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Interests: water utilization; plant physiology; microbial community structure; farmland carbon emission

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy crops can grow in suitable environmental conditions. Pollutants released into the environment by industrial and agricultural activities degrade the soil quality. On the other hand, the excessive use of fertilizers, particularly nitrogen fertilizers, causes significant environmental pollution, and the presence of excess nutrients in air and water can affect human health, the environment and the economy. In recent years, agricultural regions around the globe have been subject to extensive and increasing water constraints. Agriculture production is highly dependent on water and increasingly subject to water risks. Improving nutrient and water management is therefore essential to a sustainable and productive agro-food sector. Agronomic practices such as returning straw to the field, zero tillage, intercropping and crop rotation, the efficient utilization of water and fertilizers and the addition of green manure and organic fertilizers are all conducive to improving the farmland's ecological environment. These practices involve recycling farmland materials, improving the photosynthetic capacity of crops and limiting the application of pesticides to control diseases, pests and weeds. A full and comprehensive understanding of the agronomic and physiological factors affecting the optimum utilization of nutrients, as well as water management practices, is needed.

Research papers and comprehensive review articles on any aspect related to this topic are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Xunbo Zhou
Prof. Dr. Huifang Han
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 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

  • water utilization
  • straw management
  • plant physiology
  • soil microbial community
  • water–fertilizer interaction
  • irrigation system
  • planting pattern
  • nutrient use efficiency
  • balanced fertilizers

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 6748 KiB  
Article
Fenlong-Ridging Deep Tillage Integrated with Biochar and Fertilization to Improve Sugarcane Growth and Yield
by Jiming Xiao, Shuifang Zhu, Shijian Han, Benhui Wei, Zhenli He, Zhigang Li, Ruiling Li, Lin Wang, Liyi Chen and Suli Li
Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2395; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092395 - 16 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1033
Abstract
Sugarcane yield in China is low because of the shallow A-horizon soil layer, or as it is commonly called by farmers, the “plow soil layer”, as well as low soil organic matter and fertilizer utilization efficiency. Fenlong-ridging deep tillage (FT), also called vertical [...] Read more.
Sugarcane yield in China is low because of the shallow A-horizon soil layer, or as it is commonly called by farmers, the “plow soil layer”, as well as low soil organic matter and fertilizer utilization efficiency. Fenlong-ridging deep tillage (FT), also called vertical rotary tillage, and amendment with biochar have been shown to improve soil quality and crop yield. In this study, field trials were conducted with newly planted and ratoon sugarcane to evaluate the effectiveness of FT, together with amendment with biochar and nitrogen fertilization, to improve sugarcane yield. The treatments were conventional tillage with chemical fertilizer without biochar (CT-CF, which was the control of this experiment), FT with chemical fertilizer without biochar (FT-CF), conventional tillage with chemical fertilizer mixed with biochar (CT-CFB), and FT with chemical fertilizer mixed with biochar (FT-CFB). FT-CFB treatment presented higher soil porosity, as well as higher contents of available N, P, K, total N, and organic matter, and lower soil bulk density. Similarly, results showed that FT-CFB presented higher sugarcane root fresh and dry weights, higher germination percentage, higher tiller number, and higher yield with statistically significant differences among treatments for both newly planted and ratoon sugarcane plants. Significant interactions between biochar and FT were observed for these crop traits. The interactions of FT and amendment with biochar improved the soil’s physical and chemical properties and increased the available nutrients, resulting in improved root growth and sugarcane yield. The statistical results of the present study imply that Fenlong-ridging deep tillage combined with chemical fertilizer mixed with biochar (FT-CFB) application is a new promising farm management practice for improving the soil’s physical and chemical properties and root growth, increasing total yield in China’s sugarcane belt area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Utilization of Water and Fertilizer Resources on Farmland Ecology)
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19 pages, 6091 KiB  
Article
Transcriptomics Combined with Photosynthetic Physiology and Leaf Structure Analysis Revealed Increased Sugarcane Yield by Fenlong-Ridging
by Shuifang Zhu, Jiming Xiao, Shijian Han, Xinzhu Li, Zhigang Li, Benhui Wei, Demei Zhang, Rui Wang, Ruiling Li, Lipei Yang and Suli Li
Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1196; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051196 - 24 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1702
Abstract
Fenlong-ridging (FL) is a new type of conservation tillage. In many crops, FL increases crop yield and quality; however, the cytology and molecular mechanisms of crops under FL is not completely understood. This study investigated soil physical and chemical properties under FL and [...] Read more.
Fenlong-ridging (FL) is a new type of conservation tillage. In many crops, FL increases crop yield and quality; however, the cytology and molecular mechanisms of crops under FL is not completely understood. This study investigated soil physical and chemical properties under FL and conventional tillage (CK) during 2018–2019 (plant cane) and 2019–2022 (first stubble), and analyzed the agronomic trait, physiology, leaf anatomical structure, and gene expression related to photosynthesis between FL and CK of sugarcane (Guitang 42). Soil bulk density significantly increased, and soil porosity, water storage, and content of available nitrogen and phosphorus under FL were significantly higher than those under CK. Plant height, stem diameter, single stem weight, effective stem number and yield significantly increased under FL compared to under CK. Sugar content significantly increased in plant cane under FL. Chlorophyll content and the photosynthetic rate increased, with significantly higher activity of photosynthetic enzymes including NADP-malate dehydrogenase (NADP-MDH), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC) under FL compared to CK. Fenlong-ridging cytology results showed that the mesophyll cells were large and arranged well, the Kranz anatomy was noticeable, and there were a high number of large chloroplasts in mesophyll cell and in the vascular bundle sheath. Furthermore, the bundle sheath in FL was larger than that in CK. Transcriptomics results showed that 19,357 differentially genes (DEGs) were up-regulated and 28,349 DEGs were down-regulated in sugarcane leaves under FL vs. CK. The Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed that abundant DEGs were enriched in photosynthesis, photosynthesis-antenna protein, carotenoid biosynthesis, and other pathways associated with photosynthesis. Most expression was up-regulated, thus, facilitating photosynthesis regulation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed the up-regulation of genes related to photosynthesis (PsaH and PsbS) under FL. Overall, this study provides insights into the role of FL in increased sugarcane yield by integrating physiology, cytology, and proteomics analysis. These findings could be used to further improve its application and promotion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Utilization of Water and Fertilizer Resources on Farmland Ecology)
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