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Agriculture
Special Issues
Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable Crop Production
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Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable Crop Production

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Systems and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 May 2025 | Viewed by 2584

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yadong Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: cropping system; nutrient cycling; greenhouse gas emission; carbon sequestration; soil microbial ecology
Dr. Jiangwen Nie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China
Interests: paddy farming system; cover crops; carbon sequestration and GHG mitigation; plant–soil–microbial interaction

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern agriculture faces many challenges to feed the increasing world population under the goal of sustainable development. Nowadays, there is a growing interest in exploring environmentally friendly cropping systems and the associated management of land, water and natural resources to improve soil quality, lower the environmental cost, and increase crop productivity. The optimization of cropping systems and agricultural management can lead to improved soil and crop performance for sustainable crop production. This Special Issue, titled “Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable Crop Production”, focuses on recent developments in the field and important  practices, such as optimization in cropping systems, the application of environmentally friendly fertilizers, rotating crops, planting cover crops, N and water management, etc., which can lead to improvements in soil quality and crop performance. All types of articles are welcome, including original research, short communications, and reviews.

Dr. Yadong Yang
Dr. Jiangwen Nie
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. 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

  • cropping system
  • rotation
  • soil fertility
  • nutrient cycling
  • greenhouse gas emission
  • carbon sequestration
  • N management
  • crop productivity
  • agricultural green development

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3732 KiB  
Article
Green Manuring with Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.) Mitigates Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions in a Rice-Ratooning System in Central China
by Lai Yao, Jie Zhu, Wei Yang, Dongzhu Zhao, Yong Zhou, Shaoqiu Li, Jiangwen Nie, Lixia Yi, Zhangyong Liu and Bo Zhu
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 839; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060839 - 27 May 2024
Viewed by 740
Abstract
The use of oilseed rape (OS, Brassica napus L.) as a winter green manure is crucial for enhancing soil fertility and reducing chemical N application in paddy fields. However, the impacts of replacing varying amounts of chemical N with OS on CH4 [...] Read more.
The use of oilseed rape (OS, Brassica napus L.) as a winter green manure is crucial for enhancing soil fertility and reducing chemical N application in paddy fields. However, the impacts of replacing varying amounts of chemical N with OS on CH4 and N2O emissions in paddy soils have not been well evaluated. In this study, GHG emissions, soil properties and OS decomposition in a rice-ratooning system with different OS-urea N replacement rates (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) were investigated. Our results indicate that 84.7–90.7% of the initial C and 97.5–98.4% of the N were released during the 192-day decomposition process, and that the mineralization patterns of net C and net N in the OS residue were consistent with a single exponential decay model. The lowest CH4 emissions (9.97 g m−2) were observed at 0% OS, while the highest N2O emissions (0.40 g m−2) were observed at this level of substitution. Conversely, the highest CH4 emissions (20.71 g m−2) and lowest N2O emissions (0.07 g m−2) were observed at 100% OS. Compared to 0% substitution, 25% substitution significantly decreased GWP and GHGI without reducing rice grain yield. Environmental parameters such as soil redox, NH4+-N and residual N and C were shown to be significantly associated with CH4 emissions, whereas soil redox, NH4+-N and residual C were the main drivers of N2O emissions. In conclusion, 25% substitution of OS was the most cost-effective measure for balancing greenhouse gas emission and rice yield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable Crop Production)
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15 pages, 3854 KiB  
Article
Shading at the Booting Stage Improved the Grain Quality of Hybrid Rice Due to Reduced Spikelet Production
by Liyan Shang, Zichen Liu, Jiayu Ye, Tian Sheng, Ruijie Li, Jun Deng, Ke Liu, Xiaohai Tian, Yunbo Zhang and Liying Huang
Agriculture 2024, 14(3), 371; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14030371 - 25 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1165
Abstract
As a growing abiotic stress, light deficient conditions seriously affect the yield and quality of rice. However, few studies focus on the effects of shading on grain quality at the booting stage and the responses of different hybrid rice cultivars to shading. Field [...] Read more.
As a growing abiotic stress, light deficient conditions seriously affect the yield and quality of rice. However, few studies focus on the effects of shading on grain quality at the booting stage and the responses of different hybrid rice cultivars to shading. Field experiments involving four representative rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars across no shading (CK) and 40% shading at the booting (S) and grain filling stages (SS) were conducted in 2021 and 2022. Compared with CK, S reduced grain yield by 53.0% but increased the head rice rate by 11.4% averaged across varieties and years. The chalkiness degree (CD) and chalky grain percentage (CR) were reduced by 73.0% and 61.6% in S due to its 45.3% lower total spikelets m–2, 44.0% lower grain–leaf ratio and 23.5% lower dry weight spikelet production efficiency, compared with CK. The CD and CR in SS were 49.5% and 41.0% higher and HR was 7.1% lower than that in CK. Shading significantly reduced amylose content, peak viscosity and breakdown value, but increased protein content and setback value, and the effects of SS were greater than S. Y-liangyou900 and Liangyoupeijiu showed better milling quality, while Y-liangyou900 and Chuanyou6203 obtained a better appearance and eating quality than the other varieties under both S and SS. In conclusion, shading at the booting stage significantly improved the milling, appearance and nutritional quality, and did not reduce the cooking and eating quality, but led to a significant decline in the grain yield of hybrid rice. Moreover, Y-liangyou900 exhibited better rice quality but lower yield under shading treatments. Therefore, more attention needs to be focused on screening shade-tolerant varieties using both yield and quality to cope with climate change in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable Crop Production)
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