Optimizing Plant Water and nutrient Efficiency for Higher Yields

Submission Deadline: 31 December 2026 View: 101 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editors

Prof. Gabrijel Ondrasek

Email: gondrasek@agr.hr

Affiliation: Department of Soil Amelioration, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia

Homepage:

Research Interests: Sustainable resource management in agroecosystems

Dr. Muhammad Shafiq Shahid

Email: mshahid@squ.edu.om

Affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-khoud 123, Muscat, Oman

Homepage:

Research Interests: plant virology and nanotechnology for enhancing plant health and nutrient use efficiency in resilient agroecosystems

Prof. Bin Li

Email: libin0571@zju.edu.cn

Affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

Homepage:

Research Interests: plant, pathogen and beneficial bacteira, bacteria and phage, nanotechnology, pathogen and plant

Summary

Global agriculture is increasingly challenged by limited freshwater resources, soil nutrient depletion, climate change impacts, and the growing demand for food to sustain a rising population. Enhancing plant water and nutrient use efficiency has emerged as a critical approach to maintaining and improving agricultural productivity while reducing environmental degradation. This special issue aims to highlight innovative strategies, technologies, and scientific advances that optimize plant water and nutrient uptake, improve resource-use efficiency, and ultimately contribute to sustainable crop production systems.

In recent years, driven by experimental botany, significant progress has been made in precision agriculture, soil–plant nutrient cycling, stress-resilient crop varieties, irrigation scheduling, and digital monitoring tools offers new opportunities to intensify production with fewer inputs. Moreover, understanding plant physiological responses to combined abiotic stresses, such as drought and nutrient scarcity, is essential for developing climate-smart agricultural practices. Integrating improved agronomic practices with advanced modeling and biotechnology can help achieve resilient cropping systems tailored to local environments.

This special issue welcomes research articles, reviews, and short communications that address water and nutrient dynamics in agriculture across scales—from molecular mechanisms and plant physiology to field management and policy-level interventions. By bringing together multidisciplinary research, the issue will foster knowledge exchange and encourage practical solutions to support global food security while preserving ecosystem health.

Suggested themes:
• Plant water-use efficiency and drought-resilient crop improvement
• Plant nutrient-use efficiency and innovative fertilization strategies
• Precision irrigation and nutrient management technologies for crops
• Plant physiological and molecular responses to water–nutrient stresses
• Soil health, microbiome interactions, and nutrient cycling
• Climate-smart agriculture and resource-efficient cropping systems
• Application of remote sensing, modeling, and decision-support tools in agriculture
• Policies and sustainable management frameworks for efficient resource use

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