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Agronomy
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Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables
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Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural and Floricultural Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 9870

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xiaozhong Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China
Interests: vegetables; nutrient management; sustainable agriculture production; environmental cost assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Baige Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Vegetable Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: crop and soil management for sustainable vegetable production; cultivation physiology; vegetable; nutrient management; soil amendment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Bin Liang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Resources and Environment, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Interests: vegetables; nutrient management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasing crop yield while simultaneously reducing agriculture’s environmental burdens is currently one of the main concerns of the scientific and public communities. Vegetables, as a rich source of vitamins, micronutrients, minerals, and fiber, are important in the human diet. Nowadays, vegetables are intensively managed crops, and global vegetable production has increased by 50% in the last 15 years. However, intensive vegetable production is generally considered as a high-nutrient-input and high-environmental-risk system, which is mainly due to the low nutrient and water uptake efficiency associated with the shallow root systems of most vegetable species. Optimizing nutrient management practices for vegetable production is urgently needed to resolve the conflict between high yields and environmental risk.

In this Special Issue, we aim to exchange knowledge on the latest research results in the growth and nutrient management of vegetables in recent years, propose issues worthy of research, promote theoretical research and technical applications of reasonable vegetable nutrient management, and further contribute to sustainable vegetable production. The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics: 1) nutrient demand characteristics of vegetables; 2) soil fertility and regulation strategies for vegetable fields; 3) optimal nutrient management practices to increase vegetable yield or quality; 4) optimal strategies to reduce the reactive N loss and environmental risk; and 5) vegetable growth models.

Dr. Xiaozhong Wang
Prof. Dr. Baige Zhang
Dr. Bin Liang
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

  • vegetable
  • nutrient management
  • yield
  • quality
  • crop growth
  • nutrient uptake
  • environmental risk
  • agronomy
  • regulation strategies

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2072 KiB  
Article
Optimized Nitrogen Fertilizer Rate Can Increase Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency for Open-Field Chinese Cabbage in Southwest China
by Hailin Cao, Fen Zhang, Jian Fu, Xiao Ma, Junjie Wang, Fabo Liu, Guangzheng Guo, Yiming Tian, Tao Liang, Na Zhou, Yan Wang, Xinping Chen and Xiaozhong Wang
Agronomy 2023, 13(6), 1578; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13061578 - 11 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1563
Abstract
Intensive vegetable production has been characterized by high nitrogen (N) fertilizer input in southwest China. Optimizing the N fertilizer rate is the basis for the optimal management of regional N fertilizer. A two-year field experiment with five N fertilizer rates was conducted during [...] Read more.
Intensive vegetable production has been characterized by high nitrogen (N) fertilizer input in southwest China. Optimizing the N fertilizer rate is the basis for the optimal management of regional N fertilizer. A two-year field experiment with five N fertilizer rates was conducted during 2019–2021 in southwest China, and the aim of this study was to identify the effects of different N application rates on yield, dry matter biomass (DMB), N uptake, N use efficiency (NUE) and soil mineral N (Nmin) residues for Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis L.) and further determine the critical plant N concentration and root-zone soil Nmin residues required to reach the maximum DMB of Chinese cabbage. Five N treatments were established: control without N input (CK); optimal N fertilizer rate decreased by 30% (70% OPT, 175 kg N ha−1), optimized N fertilizer rate (OPT, 250 kg N ha−1), optimal N fertilizer rate increased by 30% (130% OPT, 325 kg N ha−1) and farmers’ N fertilizer practice (FP, 450 kg N ha−1). The N source in all treatments was conventional urea (N ≥ 46.2%). The results showed that the total yield of Chinese cabbage followed a “linear-plateau” trend with an increasing N fertilizer rate. There was no significant difference in yield between the OPT, 130% OPT and FP treatments. The aboveground plant DMB and N uptake showed a ‘slow-fast-slow’ pattern with the growth period. There was no significant difference in aboveground plant DMB and N uptake between the OPT, 130% OPT and FP treatments. Moreover, the OPT treatment significantly increased the aboveground plant DMB and N accumulation by 29.6% and 40.5%, respectively, compared with the 70% OPT treatment. The OPT treatment significantly increased the NUE by 23.8%, 31.2% and 43.1% compared with that in the 70% OPT, 130% OPT and FP treatments, respectively. The linear-plateau model provided the best fit for the relationship among aboveground DMB of Chinese cabbage, plant N concentration and root-zone soil Nmin content. The critical root-zone soil Nmin and plant N concentrations were 94.1, 63.4 and 68.3 kg ha−1 and 34.4, 33.5 and 32.9 g kg−1 during the rosette, heading and harvest periods, respectively. In summary, compared to the FP treatment, the optimized N fertilizer rate (250 kg N ha−1) could significantly reduce the N application rate, maintain yield, increase aboveground plant DMB and N uptake, and improve NUE. Moreover, the study has great significance for guiding the green utilization of vegetable N fertilizer in southwest China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables)
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19 pages, 1664 KiB  
Article
Nanoparticulate Fertilizers Increase Nutrient Absorption Efficiency and Agro-Physiological Properties of Lettuce Plant
by Sara G. Abdel-Hakim, Ahmed S. A. Shehata, Saad A. Moghannem, Mai Qadri, Mona F. Abd El-Ghany, Emad A. Abdeldaym and Omaima S. Darwish
Agronomy 2023, 13(3), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13030691 - 26 Feb 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3118
Abstract
The extensive use of chemical fertilizers is responsible for numerous environmental problems including low food quality, soil degradation, and toxicity to beneficial living organisms in the soil. Nano-fertilizers (NFs) application may be a promising solution for combat these challenges. The current study focused [...] Read more.
The extensive use of chemical fertilizers is responsible for numerous environmental problems including low food quality, soil degradation, and toxicity to beneficial living organisms in the soil. Nano-fertilizers (NFs) application may be a promising solution for combat these challenges. The current study focused on the efficiency of applying small amounts of NFs incorporated with conventional nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizers to reduce the quantities of conventional fertilizers (CFs) in lettuce cultivated in sandy soil. This study evaluated the effect of these incorporations on plant growth, yield, phytochemical accumulation, leaf nutrient, and leaf nitrate. A pot experiment was conducted during the winter seasons of 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 using the following treatments: CF100: 100% CFs, CF75NF25: 75% CFs + 25% NFs, CF50NF50: 50% CFs + 50% NFs, CF25NF75: 25% CFs + 75% NFs, and NF100: 100% NFs (=10% of CFs). Our findings displayed that the CF75NF25 and CF50NF50 treatments recorded the highest plant growth parameter values (plant length, root length, number of leaves, and fresh and dry biomass). The maximum of chlorophyll fluorescence measurements (photosystem II efficiency) were obtained in plants fertilized with CF75NF25, followed by CF50NF50 and CF100. The improvement ratios of photosynthetic pigments (Chlorophyll (Chl) a, b, and total) for CF75NF25 were 23.77, 50, and 23.72% in the first season and 10.10, 51.0, and 24.90% in the second season for Chl a, b, and total, respectively, as compared with the CF100 treatment. A similar tendency was observed for the CF50NF50 treatment. Generally, CF75NF25 significantly raised the content of total phenolic compounds (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity (AOA) in lettuce plants by 36.09, 47.82, and 40.16% in the first season and by 30.39, 37.53, and 32.43% in the second season, respectively, compared with CF100. In addition, the levels of leaf nutrient content and uptake of N, P, and K were significantly higher in plants fertilized with CF75NF25 compared to the other treatments, whereas CF25NF75 had the lowest values among the different treatments across both seasons for most of the tested traits. The nitrate content in lettuce leaves (NO3−) for both seasons was lower than the acceptable level for human consumption. These results indicate that incorporating a low concentration of NFs into CFs could be a promising strategy to reduce the amount of CFs to 75% or 50% of lettuce NPK requirements without significant adverse effects on the growth and productivity of lettuce plants cultivated in sandy soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables)
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15 pages, 5665 KiB  
Article
Magnesium Effects on Carbohydrate Characters in Leaves, Phloem Sap and Mesocarp in Wax Gourd (Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn.)
by Jiabin Jiao, Jinlong Li, Jingjing Chang, Jing Li, Xiao Chen, Zhen Li, Zhao Song, Dasen Xie and Baige Zhang
Agronomy 2023, 13(2), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13020455 - 3 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1461
Abstract
Magnesium (Mg) is critical for agricultural production and human health. The wax gourd yield was greatly affected by Mg fertilizer and it serves as an excellent crop to study Mg functioning in sink growth; however, as a Cucurbitaceae plant which is called a [...] Read more.
Magnesium (Mg) is critical for agricultural production and human health. The wax gourd yield was greatly affected by Mg fertilizer and it serves as an excellent crop to study Mg functioning in sink growth; however, as a Cucurbitaceae plant which is called a raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs)-transporting plant, its adaptive mechanism of photoassimilates transportation and distribution to Mg nutrients remains unknown. Herein, we used two Mg treatments (+Mg 90 kg ha−1; CK as control 0 kg ha−1) to observe the effects of Mg on the photoassimilates status in the leaves, phloem sap and fruit of wax gourd grown across the entire growth stage under a field condition. For the first time, we confirmed that stachyose and raffinose, which accounted for 54.9–78.0% of the total carbohydrates across the whole growth phase in the phloem sap, were the most predominant sugars used for the long-distance transport of wax gourds. They were strongly increased by Mg application which started from the seedling stage to the end of growing season. This response was earlier and more dramatic than the over-accumulation of sucrose in leaves regardless of positions. Hexoses (glucose plus fructose) were the main soluble sugars in the source leaves as well as in the mesocarp tissues, and their responses to Mg varied with temporal and spatial differences. The difference in the sugar status in the leaves between the upper, middle and lower positions is closely related to the concentration of Mg ions. Compared with Mg deficiency (CK), Mg application stimulated sugar accumulation in the leaves at the seedling and flowering stages by 10.6–24.5%. On the contrary, after fruit set, Mg supplementation significantly reduced the soluble sugar concentration in leaves by 33.5–67.9%. Mg treatment also spiked the fructose and glucose in fruit at the fruit expansion stage by 26.7% and 16.4%, respectively. Taken together, our results showed that Mg tailors the carbohydrate status in the source (leaves), flow (phloem sap) and sink (mesocarp tissues) in wax gourds, especially during the fruit growth period. The lower stachyose in the phloem at the beginning of fruit setting may be an early indication of a curtailed sink process in wax gourds grown in Mg deficient soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables)
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12 pages, 1140 KiB  
Article
Sample Temperature Affects Measurement of Nitrate with a Rapid Analysis Ion Selective Electrode System Used for N Management of Vegetable Crops
by M. Teresa Peña-Fleitas, Rafael Grasso, Marisa Gallardo, Francisco M. Padilla, Romina de Souza, Alejandra Rodríguez and Rodney B. Thompson
Agronomy 2022, 12(12), 3031; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12123031 - 30 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1518
Abstract
The practical value of portable hand-held ion selective electrode sensors (ISE) for on-farm [NO3−] measurement to assist with crop N management of vegetable crops has been demonstrated in numerous previous studies. They provide rapid, in-situ measurement of the nitrate concentration [...] Read more.
The practical value of portable hand-held ion selective electrode sensors (ISE) for on-farm [NO3−] measurement to assist with crop N management of vegetable crops has been demonstrated in numerous previous studies. They provide rapid, in-situ measurement of the nitrate concentration ([NO3−]) in nutrient and soil solutions, and in petiole sap. Sample temperatures, for on-farm measurements, vary appreciably. This study evaluated the effects of sample temperature on [NO3−] measurement using two different models of a commonly used, commercially available, portable ISE meter. The temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 °C) examined were in the range likely to be encountered in practical on-farm work. Aqueous solutions of 6, 12, and 18 mmol NO3− L−1 were prepared from KNO3, Ca(NO3)2 and NaNO3. [NO3−] was measured in three replicate samples of each of the three concentrations, made from each NO3− compound, at each temperature. The results consistently and clearly demonstrated a strong negative linear relationship between temperature-induced errors and sample temperatures. The temperature-induced error was considerable for cooled samples, being +50% at 5 °C and +31% at 10 °C. At sample temperatures of 17–20 °C, the temperature effects were minimal. Above this range, the temperature effect caused underestimation. At 25 °C, the temperature-induced error was −24%. These results show that care must be taken to ensure that sample temperatures do not erroneously affect the measurement of [NO3−] with ISE meters. Particular care needs to be taken with both refrigerated and warmer samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables)
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16 pages, 14154 KiB  
Article
Bristly Oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides (L.) Holub) Responses to Sowing Date, Fertilization Scheme, and Chitosan Application
by Anestis Karkanis, Georgia Tsoutsoura, Evangelia Ntanovasili, Vasiliki Mavroviti and Georgia Ntatsi
Agronomy 2022, 12(12), 3028; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12123028 - 30 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1488
Abstract
Bristly oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides (L.) Holub) is a broad-leaved weed species that is commonly found in cereal crops. However, it is also an edible species whose leaves are consumed at the rosette growth stage of the plant. Three pot experiments were conducted [...] Read more.
Bristly oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides (L.) Holub) is a broad-leaved weed species that is commonly found in cereal crops. However, it is also an edible species whose leaves are consumed at the rosette growth stage of the plant. Three pot experiments were conducted to evaluate different cultivation protocol suggestions for this underutilized wild leafy vegetable. In the first experiment, early sowing (14 October) increased the rosette diameter and fresh biomass of bristly oxtongue compared with late sowing (13 November). In the second experiment, the application of calcium ammonium nitrate (26-0-0) at a rate of 100 kg ha−1 (N10 treatment) increased the relative chlorophyll content in the leaves compared with the control treatment. Similarly, the highest rosette diameter, leaf number, and fresh biomass values were recorded in the N10 treatment, while chitosan application had no impact on growth of plants. In the third experiment, increased root dry biomass was obtained with top dressing application of calcium ammonium nitrate at a rate of 100 kg N ha−1 compared with 0 or 50 kg N ha−1, regardless of the basal fertilization (15-5-20) rate applied. Moreover, the highest rosette diameter, relative chlorophyll content, and fresh biomass values were recorded in the treatment where the highest top dressing rate of calcium ammonium nitrate was applied. In conclusion, our results reveal that the appropriate selection of the sowing date, as well as the combination of the basal fertilizer (15-5-20) at a rate of 250 kg ha−1 with 100 kg N ha−1 calcium ammonium nitrate, can maximize the growth and yield of bristly oxtongue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth and Nutrient Management of Vegetables)
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