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Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Soil Ecology and Nutrients' Cycling in Crops and Fruits
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Soil Ecology and Nutrients' Cycling in Crops and Fruits

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 1739

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hirzel Juan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, INIA Quilamapu, Av. Vicente Méndez 515, Chillán 3780000, Chile
Interests: soil fertility; soil science; nitrogen; nutrient; fertilizers
Dr. Maurizio Badiani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Loc. Feo di Vito, I-89129 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Interests: abiotic stress in plants; biological aspects of environmental change, including climate changes; applied plant sciences and soil biology; ecotoxicology, biohazards and biosafety; industrial biosciences
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil ecology and nutrient cycling are important for plant stability maintenance and sustainable ecology. This Special Issue focuses on the actual transport of soil nutrients and agronomic responses of crops. At present, soil fertility management and nutrient cycling are complex. Many factors affect the availability of soil nutrients to plants, including fertilization rates, different yield scenarios, nutrient dosages of soil types (alluvial, colluvial, volcanic, granite) and soil chemical properties, yield potential, and climate, among the others. Whether or not nutrients are recycled back into the soil will also have a significant impact on the soil fertility status, as well as on soil environmental quality, more in general. In crops and fruits, some aspects of nutrient cycling are still poorly understood. Techniques to improve the efficiency of nutrient-efficient cultivation show considerable promise. With a better understanding of soil ecology and how nutrients cycle through plants, it is possible to increase in a sustainable manner both yields and crops’ quality, while preserving the ecosystem services provided by agricultural soils.

The innovations in this Special Issue are the recycling of agricultural and plant by-products or wastes, the recycling of energy and nutrients, and the improvement of soil properties through the use of these by-products. Finally, it is worth highlighting the focus given to allowing the farmer to optimize their yields with minimal use of nutritional inputs and care for the environment.

Dr. Hirzel Juan
Dr. Maurizio Badiani
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. Plants 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 2700 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

  • plant nutrition
  • manures
  • soil ecology
  • fertilizer
  • orchards
  • vineyards
  • crops
  • fruits

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 307 KiB  
Article
Can the Firmness, Weight, and Size of Blueberry Fruit Be Enhanced through the Application of Low Amounts of Calcium to the Soil?
by Juan Hirzel
Plants 2024, 13(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010001 - 19 Dec 2023
Viewed by 774
Abstract
Background: The firmness, weight, and size of blueberries are vital for commercial success of this crop. Fertilization is a key agronomic management practice that affects fruit quality, where calcium (Ca) plays a critical role. This study aimed to assess the impact of low [...] Read more.
Background: The firmness, weight, and size of blueberries are vital for commercial success of this crop. Fertilization is a key agronomic management practice that affects fruit quality, where calcium (Ca) plays a critical role. This study aimed to assess the impact of low levels of soil-dosed Ca in carboxylic acid form on fruit size, weight, firmness, and residual soil fertility. Methods: The study focused on two varieties of blueberries, Duke and Legacy, over two consecutive growing seasons on three commercial farms located in south-central Chile. This study consisted of five treatments, ranging from 0 to 4.0 kg Ca per hectare. Results: The highest firmness values observed for Duke were between 164 and 186 g mm−1, with size values ranging from 15.7 to 16.9 mm, and weight observations ranging from 1.60 to 1.76 g. On the other hand, Legacy showed firmness values between 163 and 173 g mm−1, with size values ranging from 16.2 to 17.2 mm, and weight observations ranging from 2.01 to 2.40 g. Conclusion: The application of low Ca rates to the soil did not impact the size, weight, or firmness of ‘Duke’ and ‘Legacy’ blueberries. There was a positive correlation between the Ca soil application and the concentration of exchangeable Ca. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Ecology and Nutrients' Cycling in Crops and Fruits)
10 pages, 498 KiB  
Article
Three Biannual Rotations Cycles with Residue Incorporation Affect Wheat Production and Chemical Soil Properties
by Juan Hirzel, Pablo Undurraga, Carola Vera, Iván Matus and Pascal Michelow
Plants 2023, 12(24), 4194; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12244194 - 18 Dec 2023
Viewed by 730
Abstract
Background: There are few reports of crop rotations with high residue incorporation in terms of their effects on indicator crop yields and soil properties, so this study evaluated the effect of two medium-term biannual rotations on wheat yield development and soil chemical properties [...] Read more.
Background: There are few reports of crop rotations with high residue incorporation in terms of their effects on indicator crop yields and soil properties, so this study evaluated the effect of two medium-term biannual rotations on wheat yield development and soil chemical properties after six years of rotation. Methods: The experiment was conducted with two biannual rotations (canola–wheat and bean–wheat) and four residue incorporation levels (0%, 50%, 100%, and 200%) in an Andisol in south central Chile. Wheat grain yield and residue production were evaluated during each biannual cycle during three cycles of crop rotation, and soil chemical properties were evaluated at final evaluation. Results: The use of beans as a wheat preculture partially improved grain yield in 7.3%. The chemical properties of the soil showed an increase in pH (0.08 units), organic matter content (15 g kg−1), and concentrations of P (2.8 mg kg−1), S (7.4 mg kg−1), and Al (0.03 cmol+ kg−1) after canola cultivation, while after bean cultivation there was an increase in the available N concentration (3.7 mg kg−1). The use of increasing doses of residue allowed for an increase in the soil pH and decrease in the exchangeable Al concentration. Conclusion: The continuous incorporation of the residues produced within the biannual rotations evaluated in this volcanic soil did contribute to improving some chemical properties of the soil without affecting wheat crop yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Ecology and Nutrients' Cycling in Crops and Fruits)
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