Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

In recent years, organic farming area has expanded rapidly in the world, since it can reduce the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment while sustaining the productivity of the agro-ecosystems. In Japan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) launched the Strategy for a sustainable food system, “MIDORI”. One of its goals by 2050 is to increase organic farming to 1Mha, equivalent to 25% of farmland (MAFF, 2021). In the EU, the promotion of organic farming, at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030, is addressed by The Farm and Fork strategy (EU, 2020).

Rice cultivation in flooded paddy fields is a special agricultural ecosystem that differs from the uplands. Organic rice farming practices and research are increasing worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian countries. There are two main problems with organic rice farming. One is to suppress rice paddies' weeds without herbicides. The other one is to maintain soil fertility without chemical fertilizers. During past years, many of our colleagues worldwide have been studying organic rice farming from various perspectives. There are many challenges in developing organic rice farming technology that adapts to climate change and fits SDGs.

We invite regular research papers, short papers, and review articles related to Soil Science and Plant Nutrition for Organic Rice Farming (SSPN-ORF) from rice-producing countries around the world, especially from East and Southeast Asia.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• How to weeding in ORF?
• How to maintain soil fertility in ORF?
• How to compete with conventional farming?
• Is ORF affected by climate change?
• Does ORF increase soil C sequestration?
• Does ORF affect CH₄ and N₂O emissions?

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Special Issue Editor(s)

Weiguo Cheng, Yamagata University, Japan
[email protected]

Kazunobu Toriyama, NARO and Yamagata University, Japan

Yoshitaka Uchida, Hokkaido University, Japan

Yo Toma, Hokkaido University, Japan

Hideto Ueno, Ehime University, Japan

Kazuyuki Inubushi, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan

Benito Heru Purwanto, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia

Select “SSPN-ORF” as the designation of the manuscript when submitting it to ScholarOne.

Interested authors are encouraged to contact the Guest Editor for the special issue SSPN-ORF at [email protected] before March 31, 2024.

The special section will be published in the early issue of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition in 2025.

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