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Agronomy
Special Issues
Transfer of Waste to Resource in Agriculture
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Transfer of Waste to Resource in Agriculture

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (27 July 2020) | Viewed by 16094

Special Issue Editors

Assoc. Prof. John McLean Bennett CPSS

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Guest Editor
Deputy Director, Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, P13 Building, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
Prof. Dr. John Crawford

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Guest Editor
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Interests: soil systems science; theoretical biology; modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the global population projected to reach approximately 10 billion by 2050, there is a significant challenge to feed the world. The agricultural status quo will fail to meet this challenge, and a systems approach that challenges current agricultural convention will be required. Amongst these are the requirements to:

  1. Reduce the agricultural produce wasted within society;
  2. Recover agricultural waste produce from urban environments;
  3. Identify and utilize industrial waste for agricultural production; and,
  4. Directly reuse the localized agricultural residues.

This demands a systems approach to thinking where agriculture must be thought of as part of a societal circular economy. Whilst the concept of circular economies is by no means a recent idea, it is a short-term imperative and a significant challenge for a society with greater than 100 years of conventional agricultural implementation defining the operational norm. Additionally, there is a requirement for great cultural shift in overcoming the disconnect between urban and rural environments, and in elucidating that there is great onus on the urban consumer within an agricultural circular economy. It is indeed a wicked problem.

This Special Issue on the “Transfer of Waste to Resource in Agriculture” invites submissions seeking to explore, investigate, and discuss the recognition of waste in terms of agricultural production and a circular economy from a systems perspective. We further encourage transdisciplinary, social, legal, and economic research to be submitted, along with the more traditional applied agronomy research that might be expected.

Dr. John McLean Bennett
Prof. John Crawford
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

  • Agricultural produce wasted
  • Urban environments
  • Agricultural production
  • Agricultural residues

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1495 KiB  
Article
Feasibility of Vermicomposting of Spent Coffee Grounds and Silverskin from Coffee Industries: A Laboratory Study
by M.A. González-Moreno, B. García Gracianteparaluceta, S. Marcelino Sádaba, J. Zaratiegui Urdin, E. Robles Domínguez, M.A. Pérez Ezcurdia and A. Seco Meneses
Agronomy 2020, 10(8), 1125; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081125 - 3 Aug 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4958
Abstract
In the coffee industry, several by-products are generated during the production and consumption of coffee and represent an important waste from an environmental viewpoint. For improving the knowledge about this issue, a laboratory vermicomposting study of coffee silverskin (CS) and spent coffee grounds [...] Read more.
In the coffee industry, several by-products are generated during the production and consumption of coffee and represent an important waste from an environmental viewpoint. For improving the knowledge about this issue, a laboratory vermicomposting study of coffee silverskin (CS) and spent coffee grounds (SCG) spiked with mature horse manure (HM) in different proportions and using earthworm Eisenia andrei was carried out. The 60-day study focused on biological parameters such as total biomass gain, growth rate, cocoon production, and mortality. This study also investigated whether the vermicompost obtained could be useful and lacked toxicity through a seed germination test using hybrid wheat seeds. Results showed a disparity depending on the type of residue and the mixture used. Best options were those treatments with a medium–low amount of residue; 25% for SCG and 25% or 50% for CS. In addition, lack of toxicity was confirmed in all treatments. In conclusion, it is possible to carry out a vermicomposting of SCG and CS with some specific features. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transfer of Waste to Resource in Agriculture)
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11 pages, 1132 KiB  
Article
Effect of Natural Aging of Biochar on Soil Enzymatic Activity and Physicochemical Properties in Long-Term Field Experiment
by Barbara Futa, Patryk Oleszczuk, Sylwia Andruszczak, Ewa Kwiecińska-Poppe and Piotr Kraska
Agronomy 2020, 10(3), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030449 - 24 Mar 2020
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5117
Abstract
The effect of different rates of biochar on selected soil properties and enzymatic activity 48, 60, and 72 months after biochar application to soil was investigated. Soil enzymatic activity (dehydrogenase—ADh; phosphatase—Aph; urease—AU), the organic carbon content (TOC), the total nitrogen content (Nt [...] Read more.
The effect of different rates of biochar on selected soil properties and enzymatic activity 48, 60, and 72 months after biochar application to soil was investigated. Soil enzymatic activity (dehydrogenase—ADh; phosphatase—Aph; urease—AU), the organic carbon content (TOC), the total nitrogen content (Nt), the mineral nitrogen content (NH4+, NO3−), and soil pH were determined. The study was conducted on Haplic Podzol originating from glaciofluvial fine-grained loamy sand. Biochar was applied to soil under winter rye (Secale cereale L.) at rates of 10 (BC10), 20 (BC20), and 30 t ha−1 (BC30). Plots with biochar-unamended soil were the control treatment (BC0). The pH, TOC, and Nt content in the biochar-amended soil were higher compared to the control soil. A broader C:N ratio was found in the BC0 soil compared to BC10, BC20, and BC30. With increasing biochar rate, the content of the ammonium nitrogen form (NH4+) decreased and was statistically lower than in the control soil (BC0). The soil in the BC20 and BC30 treatments was characterized by the highest content of NO3-, whereas the lowest nitrate nitrogen content was found in the control soil (BC0). Biochar application increased soil enzymatic activity. Dehydrogenase activity increased with increasing biochar rate. As far as phosphatase and urease activity is concerned, a similar relationship was not observed. In this case, the soil amended with biochar at a rate of 20 t ha−1 (BC20) was characterized by the highest phosphatase and urease activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transfer of Waste to Resource in Agriculture)
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18 pages, 3114 KiB  
Article
A Novel Compost for Rice Cultivation Developed by Rice Industrial By-Products to Serve Circular Economy
by Kalliopi Kadoglidou, Argyris Kalaitzidis, Dimitrios Stavrakoudis, Aggeliki Mygdalia and Dimitrios Katsantonis
Agronomy 2019, 9(9), 553; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9090553 - 15 Sep 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5570
Abstract
Rice is the major staple crop worldwide, whereas fertilization practices include mainly the application of synthetic fertilizers. A novel compost was developed using 74% of rice industrial by-products (rice bran and husks) and tested in rice cultivation in Greece’s main rice producing area. [...] Read more.
Rice is the major staple crop worldwide, whereas fertilization practices include mainly the application of synthetic fertilizers. A novel compost was developed using 74% of rice industrial by-products (rice bran and husks) and tested in rice cultivation in Greece’s main rice producing area. Field experimentation was conducted in two consecutive growing seasons (2017 and 2018) and comprised six fertilization treatments, including four compost rates (C1: 80, C2: 160, C3: 320 kg ha−1 of nitrogen all in split application, C4: 160 kg ha−1 of nitrogen in single application), a conventional treatment, as well as an untreated control. A total of 21 morpho-physiological and quality traits were evaluated during the experimentation. The results indicated that rice plants in all compost treatments had greater height (8%–64%) and biomass (32%–113%) compared to the untreated control. In most cases, chlorophyll content index (CCI) and quantum yield (QY) were similar or higher in C3 compared to the conventional treatment. C2 and C3 exhibited similar or greater yields, 7.5–8.7 Mg ha−1 in 2017 and 6.3–6.9 Mg ha−1 in 2018, whereas the conventional treatment resulted in 7.3 Mg ha−1 and 6.8 Mg ha−1 in the two years, respectively. No differences were observed in most quality traits that affect the rice commodity. The current study reveals that in sustainable farming systems based on circular economy, such as organic ones, the application of the proposed compost at the rate of 6 Mg ha−1 can be considered sufficient for the rice crop nutrient requirements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transfer of Waste to Resource in Agriculture)
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