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Ecophysiology and Quality of Crops
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Ecophysiology and Quality of Crops

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 1860

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yahia Rharrabti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Natural Ressources and Environment Laboratory, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Taza, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, B.P.1223, Taza Gare, Taza 35000, Morocco
Interests: plant; plant physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Crop ecophysiology is the study of the interrelationships between crops and their environment, as well as the interactions between crops and other biological and abiotic factors. These areas of research are critical to understanding crop growth, development, and yield formation. Crop quality is affected by many factors. Studying the effects of physiological and ecological mechanisms on crop quality can help us to better understand how to improve crop quality by optimizing agricultural management measures.

With the continuous increase in human activities, environmental problems are becoming increasingly prominent. By studying the ecophysiology and quality of crops, this Special Issue can understand the impact of environmental changes on crop growth and development, improve crop yield and quality, protect and repair the ecosystem, and solve environmental problems to promote sustainable agricultural development.

Prof. Dr. Yahia Rharrabti
Guest Editor

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. Plants 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 2700 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

  • crop ecophysiology
  • crop quality
  • yield quality
  • environment
  • biotic and abiotic stresses

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2206 KiB  
Article
Effects of Rocky Desertification Stress on Oat (Avena sativa L.) Seed Germination and Seedling Growth in the Karst Areas of Southwest China
by Haiyan Huang, Yuting Yang, Junqin Li, Yang Gao, Xiangtao Wang, Rui Wang, Zijun Zhou, Puchang Wang and Lili Zhao
Plants 2024, 13(22), 3260; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13223260 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 381
Abstract
Oat is an important crop widely distributed in temperate zones and is also commonly planted in the karst areas of southwest China. However, due to severe rocky desertification, the complex soil in this area is characterized by high calcium content, alkaline conditions, and [...] Read more.
Oat is an important crop widely distributed in temperate zones and is also commonly planted in the karst areas of southwest China. However, due to severe rocky desertification, the complex soil in this area is characterized by high calcium content, alkaline conditions, and drought, which significantly negatively impact the growth of oat seedlings. To study the adaptability of oats to rocky desertification stress at the seedling stage, we investigated the effects of CaCl2 (0–150 mM), the pH (3–9), and drought stress (PEG-6000 solution at 0 to −0.79 MPa) on seed germination and seedling growth. The results showed that (1) calcium stress had dual effects on seed germination within the range of 5–150 mM CaCl2. Low concentrations of CaCl2 (5 mM) promoted the germination potential, germination rate, germination index, and vigor index of oats, as well as the growth and biomass accumulation of radicles in oat seedlings; however, high concentrations of CaCl2 inhibited these germination parameters. (2) Under drought stress, moderate concentrations of a PEG-6000 solution significantly improved the germination potential and germination rate of oat seeds, but the germination index and vigor index decreased with an increasing PEG-6000 concentration. When the PEG-6000 concentration corresponded to −0.06 MPa, the root growth and fresh weight accumulation of oat seedlings were significantly promoted; however, as the concentration increased to −0.53 MPa and –0.79 MPa, seed germination and seedling growth were significantly inhibited. (3) pH treatments had no significant effect on oat seed germination, but all growth indexes of oats showed a downward trend under alkaline conditions. These results suggest that suitable conditions for oat planting in karst rocky desertification areas are 5 mM CaCl2, pH levels of 5–8, and drought stress between 0 and −0.32 MPa. This study provides a theoretical basis for oat introduction, cultivation, and stress-resistant breeding in this area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecophysiology and Quality of Crops)
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17 pages, 3917 KiB  
Article
Efficiency of Desiccation, Biomass Production, and Nutrient Accumulation in Zuri and Quênia Guinea Grasses in Integrated Crop–Livestock Systems and Second-Crop Maize
by Bruno de Souza Marques, Kátia Aparecida de Pinho Costa, Hemython Luís Bandeira do Nascimento, Ubirajara Oliveira Bilego, Eduardo Hara, Rose Luiza Moraes Tavares, Juliana Silva Rodrigues Cabral, Luciana Maria da Silva, José Carlos Bento, Breno Furquim de Morais, Adriano Carvalho Costa and Tiago do Prado Paim
Plants 2024, 13(22), 3250; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13223250 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 476
Abstract
Modern agriculture faces the challenge of increasing production without expanding cultivated areas, promoting sustainable practices that ensure food security and environmental preservation. Integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLSs) stand out as an effective strategy, diversifying and intensifying agricultural production in a sustainable manner, ensuring adequate [...] Read more.
Modern agriculture faces the challenge of increasing production without expanding cultivated areas, promoting sustainable practices that ensure food security and environmental preservation. Integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLSs) stand out as an effective strategy, diversifying and intensifying agricultural production in a sustainable manner, ensuring adequate soil cover, and improving nutrient cycling efficiency. Thus, this study aimed to explore and compare integrated crop–livestock systems with Zuri guinea grass (Panicum maximum cv. BRS Zuri) and Quênia guinea grass (Panicum maximum cv. BRS Quênia) against the conventional soybean/maize succession method in a tropical region, and how these systems affect biomass decomposition, C:N ratio, nutrient cycling, and fertilizer equivalents. A field experiment was conducted in two phases: the first in the second-crop season and the second in the main season, using a randomized block design with four replicates. The treatments consisted of two ICLS systems, one with Zuri and Quênia guinea grasses established after soybean, and a succession system with maize established after soybean. The results indicated that Quênia guinea grass showed greater desiccation efficiency, with an injury rate of 86.5% at 21 days, 8.5% higher compared to Zuri guinea grass. In terms of biomass, Zuri and Quênia guinea grasses had average productions of 7021.1 kg ha−1, which was 43.25% higher compared to maize biomass. The biomass decomposition of the grasses was faster due to their lower C:N ratio, resulting in greater nutrient release into the soil. Both forage grasses (Zuri and Quênia guinea grasses) are suitable for integrated crop–livestock systems, as they showed similar biomass production and nutrient accumulation. Soybean yield was not influenced by the different cropping systems, showing similar results between the biomass of Zuri and Quênia guinea grasses and maize. However, grass biomass enriches the soil more through the return of fertilizer equivalents, which in future studies could be considered for the reduction of mineral fertilizers, ensuring greater sustainability of agricultural systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecophysiology and Quality of Crops)
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16 pages, 4066 KiB  
Article
Higher Seed Rates Enlarge the Effects of Wide-Belt Sowing on Root Length Density, Thereby Improving Nitrogen Uptake and Use Efficiencies in Winter Wheat
by Yuechao Wang, Wen Li, Yaoyao Deng, Jianfu Xue and Zhiqiang Gao
Plants 2024, 13(17), 2476; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13172476 - 4 Sep 2024
Viewed by 488
Abstract
The optimized sowing method and appropriate seed rate can improve wheat N use efficiency. However, the interactive effect of the sowing method and seed rate on N use efficiency, particularly N uptake and root length density, are unclear. A field experiment was conducted [...] Read more.
The optimized sowing method and appropriate seed rate can improve wheat N use efficiency. However, the interactive effect of the sowing method and seed rate on N use efficiency, particularly N uptake and root length density, are unclear. A field experiment was conducted for two growing seasons in southern Shanxi province, China, using a split-plot design with the sowing method as the main plot (wide-belt sowing, WBS, and conventional narrow-drill sowing, NDS) and seed rate as the sub-plot (100–700 m−2). Our results showed that WBS had a significant and positive effect on N use efficiency (yield per unit of available N from the fertilizer and soil, by 4.7–15.4%), and the relatively higher seed rates (>300 or 400 m−2) enlarged the effects. The N use efficiency increases under WBS were mainly attributed to the increases in N uptake before anthesis, resulting from the promoted nodal roots per plant and per unit area, and root length density in the top layer(s). WBS promoted N translocation and the N harvest index, resulting in equivalent grain protein concentration and processing quality compared to NDS. Thus, adopting higher seed rates (>300 m−2) combined with WBS is recommended for achieving greater N efficiencies while maintaining the grain protein concentration and processing quality of winter wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecophysiology and Quality of Crops)
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