Sustainable Soil Management and Crop Production Research: 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Following the excellent reception of Volume I of this Special Issue, and the widespread interest in this research topic, we proceed to Volume II.

Soil provides crop plants with the essential nutrients, water, and root support they require to grow and thrive. There are a number of factors that affect soil quality, including climatic conditions, time, living organisms, and especially human management of soil. The soil condition determines the effectiveness of any crop. The use of mineral fertilizers and plant protection products has steadily increased over the last century, adversely impacting soil conditions and the environment. The inefficient use of nutrients in fertilizers has resulted in the migration of harmful compounds. Intensive cultivation and the use of mineral fertilizers have adversely affected biodiversity, resulting in significantly reduced soil physical and chemical properties. The problem of environmental pollution has become global.

In this regard, agriculture has a significant impact on natural resources, which could adversely affect environmental protection and result in the degradation of agricultural lands. In response to this situation, a heated debate has emerged over the need for better fertilizer management and more sustainable soil nutrient use, highlighting the importance of integrating methods and practices designed to achieve proper plant nutrition and productivity. New agricultural practices, fertilization methods, amendments, and plant nutrition sources, along with the use of bacteria and fungi to enhance nutrient utilization by crops, all provide interesting and sustainable solutions for maintaining soil life, improving fertility, and feeding plants, in order to promote sustainable agricultural production. In addition, the use of new and/or existing sources of fertilizers and soil improvers, either directly (direct input into the soil) or indirectly (physicochemical transformation), is beneficial to minimize contamination and environmental impacts. For this reason, understanding nutrient reactions and processes in soils (soil fertility), as well as managing inorganic and organic nutrient inputs efficiently (nutrient management), is essential to maximizing the nutrient supply to crops and minimizing environmental risk.

This Special Issue, entitled “Sustainable Soil Management and Crop Production Research: 2nd Edition”, focuses on recent scientific progress and innovation in agriculture regarding the evaluation of the spatial–temporal variability of nutrients for precise prescription, the assessment of crop responses to nutrient application, the development of integrated nutrient management (INM) strategies for sustaining soil health and crop productivity and quality, the improvement of nutrient use efficiency (NUE), the establishment of critical limits for nutrients under different soil–crop conditions for revising nutrients recommendations, and the development of best management practices (BMPs) for nutrients under various soil–crop conditions. We welcome novel papers, reviews, and opinion papers that enhance our understanding of the above-mentioned topics.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ioannis Roussis
Dr. Ioanna Kakabouki
Guest Editors

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• sustainable soil quality
• soil fertility
• organic carbon
• plant nutrition
• integrated nutrient management
• nutrient interactions
• nutrient use efficiency
• sustainable agriculture
• no-tillage agriculture
• biostimulants
• organic fertilizers and biofertilizers
• plant growth promoting rhizobacteria
• crop residues
• compost

• Sustainable Soil Management and Crop Production Research in Sustainability (7 articles)