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Agriculture
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The Responses of Food Crops to Fertilization and Conservation Tillage
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The Responses of Food Crops to Fertilization and Conservation Tillage

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 3432

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Zhaowen Mo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crop Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: environmental effects on crop growth and production; crop physiology and ecology; crop cultivation and management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Enhancing the yield and quality of food crops is a long-standing, central challenge in agriculture, particularly in the context of growing global population demands and climate change. How to enhance the yield and quality of food crops while preserving ecosystems, increasing soil health, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become an urgent issue.

Fertilization and tillage are the two most vital agronomic practices, affecting crop yields, yield quality, and soil health. However, high crop yields have historically been achieved through the over-application of fertilizers and the over-tillage of the soil, resulting in wasted resources, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and disruptions to the ecological balance of the soil. Thus, there is a need for innovative fertilizer application strategies and tillage practices to improve resource utilization and crop yield and quality on a sustainable basis.

With the sustainable development of societies and agricultural production, agricultural systems are increasingly recognized as integrated systems involving trees, crops, and/or livestock. Therefore, investigating the response of food crops to fertilization and conservation tillage should focus not only on cropping systems, but also on agroforestry systems; in many areas, these are considered to be innovative, combining high productivity with ecosystem preservation and efficient resource use.

This Special Issue welcomes review and research articles that focus on fertilizer and tillage management practices, innovative approaches, and resource conservation technologies that can successfully increase system productivity in food crop-based cropping systems and agroforestry systems while reducing negative environmental impacts. Papers presenting new, comprehensive studies on various aspects, including food crop management, fertilization, yield, quality, resource utilization, the stress resistance physiology of crops, and integrated ecological effects, are welcome.

Dr. Zhaowen Mo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • food crop
  • grain yield and quality
  • crop physiology and ecology
  • greenhouse gas emissions
  • fertilization and tillage management
  • agroforestry systems
  • ecological effect

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 618 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Tillage Systems and Cover Crops on Soil Quality and Soybean Yield
by Qiliang Hunag, Yingting Gong, Peiran Li, Ratih Kemala Dewi and Masakazu Komatsuzaki
Agriculture 2024, 14(12), 2119; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14122119 - 22 Nov 2024
Viewed by 323
Abstract
Implementing management practices that minimize environmental impact while maintaining high crop yields is essential to achieve sustainable agricultural production. This study conducted a field trial within a soybean system to evaluate the responses of crop yield, residue decomposition, soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, [...] Read more.
Implementing management practices that minimize environmental impact while maintaining high crop yields is essential to achieve sustainable agricultural production. This study conducted a field trial within a soybean system to evaluate the responses of crop yield, residue decomposition, soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, and soil total nitrogen (STN) stock to varying tillage [moldboard tillage (MP) vs. no-tillage (NT)] and cover crop [hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth, HV) vs. rye (Secale cereal, RY)] management practices. The results showed no significant difference in soybean economic yield between MP and NT. However, NT demonstrated a higher SOC stock (0–30 cm), exceeding MP by 4.0% in 2020 and 8.2% in 2021. STN stock (0–30 cm) under NT also surpassed that of MP by 3.3% in 2020 and 3.6% in 2021. No significant differences were observed in soybean yield, SOC stock, and STN stock between HV and RY. Compared to NT, MP accelerated the decomposition of cover crop residues. Moreover, the decomposition of RY was more difficult than that of HV. These findings suggest that NT enhances soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration without compromising yield, positioning it as a sustainable practice for soybean systems, particularly when integrated with RY cover crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Responses of Food Crops to Fertilization and Conservation Tillage)
16 pages, 14744 KiB  
Article
Optimized Tillage Method Increased Rice Yield in Rice Ratooning System
by Tingyu Yang, Haiwei Zhang, Fukang Li, Ting Yang, Yuecheng Shi, Xinyi Gu, Mingshuai Chen and Shuochen Jiang
Agriculture 2024, 14(10), 1768; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14101768 - 7 Oct 2024
Viewed by 713
Abstract
Ratoon rice occupies an important position in rice production owing to its time-saving, labor-saving and low-pollution planting, and increased benefits. However, the impact of tillage management on the yield in rice ratooning system has not yet been reported. Thus, field experiments were carried [...] Read more.
Ratoon rice occupies an important position in rice production owing to its time-saving, labor-saving and low-pollution planting, and increased benefits. However, the impact of tillage management on the yield in rice ratooning system has not yet been reported. Thus, field experiments were carried out to investigate the impact of seven tillage methods on the yield of ratoon rice crop in Jingzhou City in 2021–2022. The managements included winter plowing + rotary 2 times (PTw + RT2) or 3 times (PTw + RT3), spring plowing + rotary 2 times (PTs + RT2) or 3 times (PTs + RT3), no plowing + rotary 2 times (P0 + RT2) or 3 times (P0 + RT3) and no tillage (NT). PTw + RT3 had the highest total rice yield. The experimental data were collected in 2021 and 2022. In terms of main season rice yield, the order of ranking was PTw > PTs ≈ NT ≈ P0, while for ratoon rice yield, the ranking was NT > PTw ≈ PTs > P0. Generally, the root function ranked as PTw > PTs > P0 > NT. The photosynthetic capacity of the main season rice always maximized in PTw, those of the ratoon rice all maximized in NT, and those of both the main season rice and ratoon rice always minimized in P0. In the three tillage modes (PTw, PTs, P0), an additional rotary tillage did not affect the growth or yield of rice. PTw + 3RT was the highest yielding tillage management, but it is still necessary to explore other PTw + 3RT methods and more economical tillage management to increase the yield of ratoon rice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Responses of Food Crops to Fertilization and Conservation Tillage)
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14 pages, 3032 KiB  
Article
Biochar Application in Combination with No Tillage Enhanced Yield and Grain Quality of Ratoon Rice
by Bin Du, Wujun Zhang, Qiangming Liu, Xiujian Duan, Yanjie Yao, Yu Wang, Jingyong Li and Xiong Yao
Agriculture 2024, 14(8), 1407; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081407 - 20 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1010
Abstract
Biochar is beneficial as a clean, stable, and efficient soil amendment to improve rice quality and yield. However, there are few reports on the effects of no-tillage in combination with biochar application on rice growth, yield, and quality in regenerative rice systems. This [...] Read more.
Biochar is beneficial as a clean, stable, and efficient soil amendment to improve rice quality and yield. However, there are few reports on the effects of no-tillage in combination with biochar application on rice growth, yield, and quality in regenerative rice systems. This study evaluated rice yield, grain quality, multiple antioxidant enzyme activities, and malondialdehyde content under four treatments: rotary tillage alone, rotary tillage + biochar application, no-tillage alone, and no-tillage + biochar. The results showed that the rice yield under no-tillage alone was 15% lower than that under rotary tillage alone, but that biochar application significantly increased rice yield by 10% and 20% under rotary tillage and no-tillage conditions, respectively, which might be attributed to the fact that biochar application increased panicle number, spikelet number per panicle, grain filling rate, and antioxidant enzyme activities. Additionally, biochar application also increased fine rice rate and protein content, meanwhile reducing chalkiness degree and chalky grain rate in both the main-season rice and ratoon-season rice. These results suggest that biochar application could enhance the yield and grain quality of ratoon rice, thus compensating for the no-tillage-induced yield loss. This study reveals the role of biochar in main-season rice and ratoon rice cultivation, providing a valuable reference for improved fertilizer utilization and cleaner agricultural production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Responses of Food Crops to Fertilization and Conservation Tillage)
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15 pages, 2996 KiB  
Article
Crop Diversification and Fertilization Strategies in a Rainfed System with Drought Periods
by Angela D. Bosch-Serra, Carlos Ortiz, María Gabriela Molina, Awais Shakoor and Bárbara Parra-Huertas
Agriculture 2024, 14(7), 1113; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14071113 - 10 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 809
Abstract
Crop diversification and the reduction of nitrogen (N) inputs are key issues in the EU for more sustainable agriculture. An experiment was set up in a semiarid rainfed Mediterranean system. Our hypothesis was that these challenges could be addressed by introducing new crops [...] Read more.
Crop diversification and the reduction of nitrogen (N) inputs are key issues in the EU for more sustainable agriculture. An experiment was set up in a semiarid rainfed Mediterranean system. Our hypothesis was that these challenges could be addressed by introducing new crops and using pig slurries (PSs). The experimental factors were N fertilization at sowing (with or without PS) combined (according to a split-block design) with N fertilization as topdressing (the control, two N mineral rates, and two N rates from PS). Barley, rapeseed, and pea performances were evaluated in two different crop sequences: (i) barley–rapeseed or rapeseed–barley after a fallow season, and (ii) barley–pea or pea–barley after a fallow season followed by a non-fertilized barley crop. The results of the four-year study demonstrated that under a spring drought risk, barley performed better than peas in terms of relative crop yield maintenance. After fallow, N can be saved while maintaining the yields and total biomass of barley and rapeseed. In the second crop sequence, maximum pea and barley yields were associated with a minimum topdressing of 60 or 120 kg mineral N ha−1, respectively. However, slurry fertilization at sowing also allowed the highest yields for barley. Rapeseed and peas can be introduced to reduce N fertilization inputs. However, the obtained yield plateau for pea and rapeseed (3 and 4 Mg ha−1, respectively) and the effect of a yield spring drought on pea yields (50% reduction) might be a constraint for the success of EU policies on crop diversification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Responses of Food Crops to Fertilization and Conservation Tillage)
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