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Importance of Soil Fertility in Crop Production
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Importance of Soil Fertility in Crop Production

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant–Soil Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2022) | Viewed by 4728

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crop Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Interests: soil fertility; plant nutrition; mineral nutrition; plant physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil fertility is a fundamental component in sustainable food production. Managing soil fertility has received special attention from the scientific community and plays a key role in so-called “sustainable agriculture” and “food security”. The process involved in understanding the crop production processes starts with the soil. Throughout the world, different climate conditions and parent materials originate different soils which require specific management. However, regardless of its origin, the soil is also considered the foundation capable of absorbing long-term impacts imposed on it and how much of the water and nutrients are absorbed by plants. Thus, soil is a central compartment of crop production, and managing and conserving its fertility is a highly valuable responsibility and an indispensable tool for efficient crop production.

This Special Issue aims to publish research or review articles focusing on agronomic techniques and recent scientific innovations in soil fertility and crop production always based on sustainable agriculture. We welcome novel research covering topics related to chemical, physical, and biological fertility of the soil, associated with integrated crop systems, water use efficiency, fertilizer use efficiency, soil acidity amendment and conditioning, and soil organic carbon management integrated with management practices to maximize crop production efficiently.

Prof. Dr. Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • soil management practices
  • chemical, physical, and biological fertility of soil
  • water and fertilizer use efficiency

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6847 KiB  
Article
Laboratory Extractions of Soil Phosphorus Do Not Reflect the Fact That Liming Increases Rye Phosphorus Content and Yield in an Acidic Soil
by Miguel Ángel Olego, Mateo D. Cuesta-Lasso, Fernando Visconti Reluy, Roberto López, Alba López-Losada and Enrique Garzón-Jimeno
Plants 2022, 11(21), 2871; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11212871 - 27 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1853
Abstract
In addition to aluminum and other heavy metal toxicities, acidic soils also feature nutrient deficits that are not easily overcome by merely adding the required amounts of mineral fertilizers. One of the most critically scarce nutrients in acidic soils is phosphorus, which reacts [...] Read more.
In addition to aluminum and other heavy metal toxicities, acidic soils also feature nutrient deficits that are not easily overcome by merely adding the required amounts of mineral fertilizers. One of the most critically scarce nutrients in acidic soils is phosphorus, which reacts with aluminum and iron to form phosphates that keep soil phosphorus availability significantly low. Liming ameliorates acidic soils by increasing pH and decreasing aluminum contents; however, it also increases the amount of calcium, which can react with phosphorus to form low-solubility phosphates. In the present work, three liming materials, namely, dolomitic limestone, limestone and sugar foam, were applied on a Typic Palexerult cropped with rye. The effects of these materials on soil properties, including soil available phosphorus extracted with the Olsen and Bray-1 methods, rye phosphorus content in stems and stem and spike harvested biomasses were monitored for nine years. According to the Olsen extraction, the amount of soil available phosphorus generally decreased following liming, with limestone presenting the lowest values; however, the amount of soil available phosphorus increased according to the Bray-1 extraction, though only to a significant extent with the sugar foam from the third year onward. Regardless, the phosphorus content in rye and the relative biomass yield in both stems and spikes generally increased as a consequence of liming. Since crop uptake and growth are the ultimate tests of soil nutrient availability, the inconsistent stem phosphorus content results following the Olsen and Bray-1 extraction methods suggest a lowered efficiency of both extractants regarding crops in soils rich in both aluminum and calcium ions. This decrease can lead to important interpretation errors in the specific conditions of these limed acidic soils, so other methods should be applied and/or researched to better mimic the crop roots’ phosphorus extraction ability. Consequently, the effects of the liming of acidic soils on phosphorus availability and crop performance in the short and long term will be better understood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Importance of Soil Fertility in Crop Production)
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15 pages, 5129 KiB  
Article
Lime Rate in Clayey Soils Influences Chemical Fertility and Sugarcane Yield
by Murilo de Campos, Jorge Martinelli Martello, Gabriela Ferraz de Siqueira, Ariani Garcia, Daniele Scudeletti, Patrícia Pereira Dias, Raffaella Rossetto, Juliano Carlos Calonego, Heitor Cantarella and Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol
Plants 2022, 11(16), 2110; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11162110 - 13 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2300
Abstract
Liming contributes to the alleviation of acidity in highly weathered soils. For sugarcane, the use of green harvest methods and new soil tillage systems requires an adjustment of lime application rates. In the present study, the effects of different lime rates and tillage [...] Read more.
Liming contributes to the alleviation of acidity in highly weathered soils. For sugarcane, the use of green harvest methods and new soil tillage systems requires an adjustment of lime application rates. In the present study, the effects of different lime rates and tillage systems on sugarcane performance and soil chemical fertility parameters were assessed. Three experiments were conducted in two locations between April 2015 and October 2019. The study design was a randomized block field study with four replicates. Four lime rates were applied once at sugarcane establishments in each soil tillage system and location: no liming (control); lime recommended rate (LRR); two times LRR (2× LRR); and three times LRR (3× LRR). The three soil tillage systems were conventional (CT), deep-strip (DT), and modified deep-strip tillage (MDT). Soil chemical fertility, leaf nutrient concentrations, and sugarcane yield components were analyzed, and correlations were identified by principal component analysis (PCA). The soil acidity was adequately alleviated in all tillage systems. Increasing the lime rate improved the lime distribution and soil fertility parameters. Applying lime at rates higher than LRR improved stalk and sugar yields, longevity, agronomic efficiency index (AEI), and correlated with a longer residual effect of liming, mainly in the last ratoon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Importance of Soil Fertility in Crop Production)
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