Soil Processes, Water Dynamics, and Climate Resilient Productivity in Dryland Ecosystem

By 2050, the world’s population will reach around 10 billion, and feeding everyone will be a major challenge. Drylands cover nearly half of the global land surface and support a large share of the world’s food and livelihood of more than 2 billion people. Drylands are not wastelands, but one of the productive landscapes with substantial economic potential and environmental value. These regions are characterized by low and erratic rainfall, high evaporative demand, and soils that are often water-scarce, nutrient-poor, and fragile. Despite these challenges, drylands host dynamic agroecosystems where soil, water, and plant processes interact under constant stress and adaptation and also plays a significant role in climate change mitigation and ecosystem services. In these environments, soil is much more than a medium for plant growth. It regulates water infiltration, storage, and availability, while mediating nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and microbial activity. Understanding these interconnected processes is quintessential for sustaining long-term productivity and resilience against degradation, salinization, and climate variability.Enhancing productivity in drylands requires integrated approaches that link soil processes, crop sustainable soil and crop management. Thus, conservation practices, precision irrigation, bioresource utilization, and climate-smart cropping strengthen soil health and improve resource-use efficiency. The expansion of horticultural and plantation crops introduces both opportunities and challenges: while they can boost productivity and diversify livelihoods, long-term cultivation may alter soil structure, nutrient dynamics, and microbial communities, with implications for sustainability. This Research Topic welcomes contributions that advance understanding and innovation in soil, water, and crop interactions across dryland environments, including studies on agroforestry/plantation and horticultural crops. Submissions may address mechanisms, technologies, or system-level innovations, including but not limited to:• Soil physical, chemical, and biological processes influencing water retention, infiltration, and nutrient cycling• Soil–plant–microbe interactions under limited water availability and high evapotranspiration• Long-term effects of horticultural and plantation crop expansion on soil fertility, structure, and microbial communities• Soil carbon dynamics, salinity, and degradation processes in dryland ecosystem• Water-use efficiency, deficit irrigation, and fertigation strategies for dryland cropping systems• Sustainable soil and crop management in the dryland ecosystem• Conservation agriculture/regenerative agriculture for enhancing soil water storage and nutrient conservation and enhancing crop productivity• Sustainable horticultural systems, protected cultivation, and adaptive plantation practices• Use of bioresources, organic amendments, and industrial byproducts for soil restoration• Modeling, remote sensing, and AI based decision-support tools for soil and water management• Climate adaptation strategies that enhance soil resilience and crop productivityThis Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:• Brief Research Report• Data Report• Editorial• General Commentary• Hypothesis and Theory• Methods• Opinion• Original Research• Perspective• Policy Brief/ Reviews• Mini Review• Review• Systematic Review Topic editors: Anandkumar Naorem, Ram C Dalal, Somasundaram Jayaraman, Dheeraj Singh Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78590/soil-processes-water-dynamics-and-climate-resilient-productivity-in-dryland-ecosystem