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Agriculture
Special Issues
Agroecological Crop Protection in Low-Input Agricultural Systems
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Agroecological Crop Protection in Low-Input Agricultural Systems

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2021) | Viewed by 10209

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Giovanni Dinelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: organic agriculture; agroecology; food health; circular economy; plant secondary metabolities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ilaria Marotti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: medicinal and aromatic plants, multifunctional crops, nutraceuticals, antioxidant activity, phytochemicals, polyphenols
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The need to improve agricultural sustainability in order to secure yields, minimize environmental impacts, and buffer environmental change is widely recognized.

Agroecology applies ecological principles to agricultural systems, and is at the core of a modern approach to the eco-friendly management of crop production. Although agroecology approaches encompass more than pest management, this aspect is a pivotal element of our agricultural future. In modern cropping systems, pesticides represent a crucial input with respect to controlling plant pests and securing quality and yield in plant production. At the same time, concerns are increasing over the effects of plant protection products on the environment, non-target organisms, and human health.

Agroecological strategies for crop protection, including biological pest control, natural pesticides, allelopathic plants, and push–pull approaches, can positively contribute to the management of weeds, pests, and diseases in sustainable agricultural systems, and could foster innovation in the low-input and organic farming sectors.

This Special Issue aims to gather up-to-date knowledge related to the cutting-edge research in the broad scientific area of agroecological approaches to crop production, with particular emphasis on crop protection. Covered aspects include, but are not limited to, plant products, plant extracts, essential oils, or other preparations as active substances against agricultural pests or pathogens; the evaluation of their bioactivities in field and laboratory trials; the evaluation of their ecological footprint; the biostimulant effect of botanicals and microorganisms on crops; stimulo-deterrent diversionary strategies in farming systems; and allelopathic crops for weed control.

Prof. Giovanni Dinelli
Prof. Ilaria Marotti
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 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 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

  • botanical active substances
  • plant extracts
  • crop protection
  • low input agriculture
  • biostimulants
  • allelopathy
  • trap crops
  • organic agriculture
  • essential oils

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2259 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Equisetum arvense (Horsetail Macerate) as a Copper Substitute for Pathogen Management in Field-Grown Organic Tomato and Durum Wheat Cultivations
by Grazia Trebbi, Lorenzo Negri, Sara Bosi, Giovanni Dinelli, Riccardo Cozzo and Ilaria Marotti
Agriculture 2021, 11(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11010005 - 23 Dec 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5997
Abstract
Effective pathogen management, as an aspect of agroecological crop protection (ACP) necessitates the replacement of copper (Cu) fungicides, but there is little knowledge relating to the performance of potentially suitable alternatives in large-scale, open-field agricultural settings. The present study was aimed at investigating [...] Read more.
Effective pathogen management, as an aspect of agroecological crop protection (ACP) necessitates the replacement of copper (Cu) fungicides, but there is little knowledge relating to the performance of potentially suitable alternatives in large-scale, open-field agricultural settings. The present study was aimed at investigating the potential of Equisetum arvense (horsetail macerate) compared to Cu-based treatments for the control of Solanum lycopersicum. and Triticum turgidum ssp. durum fungal pathogens in established organic commercial farms located in Emilia Romagna (Italy) over a three-year period (2017–2019). Both the Cu-based and horsetail foliar sprays were routinely applied as preventative treatments and in the event of pathogen establishment as curative treatments. The Cu-based and horsetail macerate treatments were both equally effective at significantly reducing Phytophthora infestans (late blight) and increasing yield in tomato compared to the untreated control. For durum wheat, the horsetail macerate and Cu-based treatments were successful at significantly reducing Puccinia triticina (brown rust) infection and increasing yield under moderate infection, but unsuccessful under unfavorable meteorological conditions resulting in the combined and severe spread of Puccinia triticina, Fusarium graminearum, and Zymoseptoria tritici. From the present results, horsetail macerate is a promising and suitable Cu-free ACP alternative for late blight management of tomato. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agroecological Crop Protection in Low-Input Agricultural Systems)
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19 pages, 3219 KiB  
Article
Effects of Light and Autotoxicity on the Reproduction of Bidens pilosa L.: From Laboratory to the Field
by Ming-Tung Hsueh, Chihhao Fan, Hsiao-Feng Lo and Wen-Lian Chang
Agriculture 2020, 10(11), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10110555 - 19 Nov 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3173
Abstract
In Taiwan, the good agricultural practices for Bidens pilosa L. (Cobbler’s pegs) had been established due to its pharmacology application. However, the reproduction of this species that may cause phytotoxicity to the subsequent crops has not been investigated extensively. We hypothesized that both [...] Read more.
In Taiwan, the good agricultural practices for Bidens pilosa L. (Cobbler’s pegs) had been established due to its pharmacology application. However, the reproduction of this species that may cause phytotoxicity to the subsequent crops has not been investigated extensively. We hypothesized that both the phytotoxicity and canopy shading conditions that were altered by agricultural practices might affect its seed reproduction. Three experiments from laboratory, pot and field were conducted under different light treatments and residue application rates to evaluate the light requirement and phytotoxicity on the germination of Cobbler’s pegs. The results showed that the germination in the laboratory, dark treatments was higher than that of light treatment while it was inhibited in the darkness in the pot experiments (24% of the light treatments). Moreover, some seeds in the pot experiments germinated in the far-red light (FR) pretreated dark treatments. This observation indicated that the germination response of the investigated plant might be a very low fluence response (VLFR). Results also showed that the autotoxicity enhanced the germination reduction in the FR pretreated dark treatment while increasing the residues buried in the field. Accordingly, both autotoxicity and canopy shading may inhibit the reproduction of Cobbler’s pegs, but the application method needs further study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agroecological Crop Protection in Low-Input Agricultural Systems)
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