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Agronomy
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A Path for Circular Economy in Agriculture: From Organic Waste...
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A Path for Circular Economy in Agriculture: From Organic Waste to Sustainable Energy and Soil Fertility

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2025 | Viewed by 1879

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniela Pezzolla

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: soil organic matter; GHG emissions; biofertilizer; sustainable agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nicolò Montegiove

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: green chemistry; biochemistry; biotechnology; biology; circular economy; sustainability; natural resources; renewable energy
Dr. Alberto Maria Gambelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: gas hydrates; carbon capture and storage; natural gas sources; biogas production; waste biomass valorization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The transition to a circular economy in agriculture offers a promising way to handle organic waste more effectively, improving both sustainability and resource efficiency. Agricultural and municipal organic residues often contribute to inadequately managed environmental challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation. Increasing the efficacy of organic waste treatments, such as anaerobic digestion in producing biogas and digestate and composting in creating high-quality soil amendments, can improve the valorization and sustainability of organic resources. In particular, anaerobic digestion can convert these residues into renewable energy, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This Special Issue wants to explore innovative strategies for converting organic waste into sustainable energy and soil enrichment, highlighting new solutions and technological advancements in waste-to-energy and waste-to-soil systems. The objective is to advance knowledge of these processes, promoting a circular economy in agriculture that fosters environmental sustainability and improves soil health.

Dr. Daniela Pezzolla
Dr. Nicolò Montegiove
Dr. Alberto Maria Gambelli
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

  • sustainable agriculture
  • anaerobic digestion
  • composting
  • soil enrichment
  • waste management
  • organic waste
  • organic fraction of municipal solid wastes
  • pollution
  • renewable energy
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2318 KiB  
Article
Effect of Temperature on the Inocula Preservation, Mesophilic Anaerobic Digestion Start-Up, and Microbial Community Dynamics
by Jingwei Wu, Huan Zhang, Ye Zhao, Xufeng Yuan and Zongjun Cui
Agronomy 2024, 14(12), 2991; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14122991 - 16 Dec 2024
Viewed by 663
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a well-established technology for the sustainable conversion of agricultural organic by-products and waste into bioenergy. Temperature is crucial for optimizing methane production through inocula preservation and reactor start-up in AD. The preservation of inocula induced by temperature has rarely [...] Read more.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a well-established technology for the sustainable conversion of agricultural organic by-products and waste into bioenergy. Temperature is crucial for optimizing methane production through inocula preservation and reactor start-up in AD. The preservation of inocula induced by temperature has rarely been assessed from an engineering perspective. There has also been limited exploration of the influence of high-to-moderate temperature transition on the initiation of AD. This study employed continuous mesophilic AD reactors with potential engineering applications to conduct revival tests. These tests evaluated the methane production activity of sludge stored at different temperatures and investigated the impact of high-temperature initiation on mesophilic AD. Additionally, we elucidated the correlation between these assessments and microbial diversity as well as composition. The results indicated that bacterial diversity was higher in the inoculum stored at 35 °C compared to 15 °C, ensuring a stable start-up operation of the mesophilic AD. The richness of the bacteria and diversity of the archaea remained stable during the transition from high to mesophilic temperatures. This was conducive to enhancing methanogenic activity of mesophilic AD initiated at 55 °C. The continuously operated AD system showed significant differences in microbial composition compared to its inoculum. Increased abundance of Coriobacteriaceae and Prevotellaceae led to propionate and butyrate accumulation, respectively, reducing AD operational capacity. Methanogenic archaea were less diverse in AD initiated with low-temperature preserved inoculum compared to that with a medium temperature. Streptococcaceae induced by high temperarure could promote AD stability. Hydrogenotrophic methanogens had a competitive advantage in mesophilic AD due to their prior exposure to high-temperature initiation, possibly influenced by Thermotogaceae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Path for Circular Economy in Agriculture: From Organic Waste to Sustainable Energy and Soil Fertility)
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18 pages, 1615 KiB  
Article
Effect of Biochar and Wood Distillate on Vegeto-Productive Performances of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Plants, var. Solarino, Grown in Soilless Conditions
by Anna Agosti, Samreen Nazeer, Lorenzo Del Vecchio, Leandra Leto, Andrea Di Fazio, Jasmine Hadj-Saadoun, Alessia Levante, Massimiliano Rinaldi, Rohini Dhenge, Camilla Lazzi, Martina Cirlini and Benedetta Chiancone
Agronomy 2024, 14(11), 2725; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14112725 - 19 Nov 2024
Viewed by 769
Abstract
Nowadays, tomato, a commercially important crop, is increasingly cultivated in a soilless cultivation system to counteract climate change. Normally, this system uses cocopeat as a substrate, but its high cost and environmental impact have led to growing interest in alternatives like biochar (BC). [...] Read more.
Nowadays, tomato, a commercially important crop, is increasingly cultivated in a soilless cultivation system to counteract climate change. Normally, this system uses cocopeat as a substrate, but its high cost and environmental impact have led to growing interest in alternatives like biochar (BC). In addition, biostimulants, such as wood distillate (WD), a pyrolysis by-product, are increasingly being used to improve fruit yield and quality. BC was used to partially replace (2% and 5%) cocopeat in growth bags for soilless tomato cultivation. Moreover, WD (3 mL/L) was distributed in the substrate every two weeks. The effect of BC and WD on tomato plant growth, fruit quality, and substrate microbial community was investigated. The integration of BC and WD into a soilless growing system for tomato cultivation can improve the fruit quality and influence the microbial activity of the substrate. Replacing part of the cocopeat in the substrate with BC and using an agri-waste-derived biostimulant represent a step forward in making agriculture more sustainable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Path for Circular Economy in Agriculture: From Organic Waste to Sustainable Energy and Soil Fertility)
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