Dear Colleagues,

The intensive use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture to satisfy the demand for food of the world population has gradually caused soil degradation as well as environmental pollution in different ecosystems. 

In recent years, agriculture is changing, depending on more sustainable agroecological practices, minimizing the damage that can be caused to the environment, and attempting to prevent soil from suffering the negative consequences of overexploitation. 

Given this, the use of biostimulants has been proposed as a promising, safe, and significant approach to address the sustainability challenges facing agriculture to ensure not only soil conservation but also high yield and quality of agricultural products. 

It has been shown that a large number of biostimulants have a positive effect on soil biology, increasing both its biochemical activity as well as its biodiversity, thus improving or restoring soil quality, aspects that are beneficial for plants. However, there is a lack of information on the effects and mode of action of biostimulants that operate in soil biology. 

We therefore need to improve our understanding of the relationship between soil biology and the application of various biostimulants to soil. Therefore, this Special Issue will focus on the relationship between the application of any biostimulant to the soil and the biological properties of the soil, in terms of both biochemical activity and biodiversity. Articles highlighting the influence of biostimulants on soil biology are welcome. This Special Issue will generate more knowledge on this challenge for the sustainability of agriculture.

Prof. Dr. Manuel Tejada
Prof. Dr. Juan Parrado
Guest Editors

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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• biostimulants
• soil biochemical activities
• soil biodiversity
• geochemical cycles