Emerging Trends in Alternative and Sustainable Crop Production

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Physiology and Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 769

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Agronomy, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Interests: agronomy; organic agriculture; certification; soil management; weed management; environmental impact of agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Agronomy, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Interests: agronomy; crop science; organic agriculture; fertilization; weeds; tillage; feed crops; alternative crops; industrial crops; sustainable agriculture; medicinal plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, cropping system research has expanded beyond basic production agronomy to address the demands of farmers to farm environmentally, ethically, economically, and socially. A wide range of topics are investigated in cropping systems research today, including agronomic, ecological, environmental, social, and economic aspects. New trends are emerging in technical aspects, and new tools are being developed for research. As part of this process, the biological basis for sustainability is also being examined. Sustainability is based on the idea that present needs should be met while protecting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The present Special Issue, entitled "Emerging Trends in Alternative and Sustainable Crop Production", attempts to describe the sustainability of cropping systems by focusing on various global issues and on recent innovations in environmentally friendly and alternative agricultural practices and technologies, including utilizing waste materials, adapting and mitigating climate change, managing natural resources, developing and maintaining healthy soils, sequestering soil carbon, managing water and nutrients in cropping systems, minimizing air and water pollution, promoting biodiversity, etc. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight the trends and alternative and sustainable paradigm shifts that have taken place globally in agricultural cropping systems research.

Dr. Dimitrios Bilalis
Dr. Ioanna Kakabouki
Dr. Ioannis Roussis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • alternative agricultural practices
  • adaptation
  • crop management
  • climate change
  • healthy soils
  • water and nutrient management

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1263 KiB  
Article
Differences in Grain Yield and Nitrogen Uptake between Tetraploid and Diploid Rice: The Physiological Mechanisms under Field Conditions
by Jian Xiao, Zhuang Xiong, Jiada Huang, Zuolin Zhang, Detian Cai, Dongliang Xiong, Kehui Cui, Shaobing Peng and Jianliang Huang
Plants 2024, 13(20), 2884; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13202884 - 15 Oct 2024
Viewed by 630
Abstract
Research indicates that, owing to the enhanced grain-filling rate of tetraploid rice, its yield has notably improved compared to previous levels. Studies conducted on diploid rice have revealed that optimal planting density and fertilization rates play crucial roles in regulating rice yield. In [...] Read more.
Research indicates that, owing to the enhanced grain-filling rate of tetraploid rice, its yield has notably improved compared to previous levels. Studies conducted on diploid rice have revealed that optimal planting density and fertilization rates play crucial roles in regulating rice yield. In this study, we investigated the effects of different nitrogen application and planting density treatments on the growth, development, yield, and nitrogen utilization in tetraploid (represented by T7, an indica–japonica conventional allotetraploid rice) and diploid rice (Fengliangyou-4, represented by FLY4, a two-line super hybrid rice used as a reference variety for the approval of super rice with a good grain yield performance). The results indicated that the highest grain-filling rate of T7 could reach 77.8% under field experimental conditions due to advancements in tetraploid rice breeding. This is a significant improvement compared with the rate seen in previous research. Under the same conditions, T7 exhibited a significantly lower grain yield than FLY4, which could be attributed to its lower grain-filling rate, spikelets per panicle, panicle number m−2, and harvest index score. Nitrogen application and planting density displayed little effect on the grain yield of both genotypes. A higher planting density significantly enhanced the leaf area index and biomass accumulation, but decreased the harvest index score. Compared with T7, FLY4 exhibited a significantly higher nitrogen use efficiency (NUEg), which was mainly due to the higher nitrogen content in the straw. Increasing nitrogen application significantly decreased NUEg due to its minimal effect on grain yield combined with its significant enhancement of nitrogen uptake. Our results suggest that the yield and grain-filling rate of T7 have been improved compared with those of previously tested polyploid rice, but are still lower than those of FLY4, and the yield of tetraploid rice can be further improved by enhancing the grain-filling rate, panicle number m−2, and spikelets per panicle via genotype improvement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Trends in Alternative and Sustainable Crop Production)
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