Sustainable Transformation of Low-to-Medium Fertility Farmlands: Enhancing Soil health and Productivity through Climate-Smart Practices

Agricultural landscapes dominated by low-to-medium fertility farmlands face critical challenges including soil degradation, resource inefficiency, and climate vulnerability. These systems, covering vast global areas, are essential for food security yet suffer from declining soil health due to unsustainable practices (i.e. imbalanced fertilization and inadequate water management). Restoring the functional capacity of these soils requires integrated approaches that bridge soil science, agronomy, and climate resilience. This Research Topic addresses the urgency of reversing degradation trends by advancing knowledge on soil health, carbon stabilization, and ecosystem function recovery in marginal agricultural systems within a rapidly changing climate. This Research Topic aims to catalyze innovative solutions for sustainably upgrading low-to-medium fertility farmland systems into productive, climate-resilient agricultural ecosystems. We seek to address the core problem of suboptimal soil functioning by: (1) Establishing robust linkages between targeted soil health interventions (organic amendments, diversification, precision water/ nutrient management) and quantifiable gains in crop productivity/ resilience; (2) Developing scalable frameworks for assessing multi-dimensional soil health improvements that account for pedo-climatic variability and socio-economic constraints; (3) Identifying synergistic pathways where carbon sequestration, water retention, and nutrient cycling co-benefits are optimized. By integrating biophysical and management sciences, this collection will outline verifiable blueprints for farmland transformation.We invite submissions addressing Climate-Adaptive Management Impacts – Empirical studies on sustainable interventions, i.e. organic amendments (biochar, compost), optimized tillage/cropping systems, precision irrigation, integrated nutrient management, and their quantified effects on soil carbon, water efficiency, yield stability, and adaptation co-benefits.Manuscript types: Original Research, Reviews, Methods, and Perspectives. Field-based studies, interdisciplinary approaches, and multi-location long-term trials are particularly encouraged. Contributions must explicitly address mechanisms linking practice to soil functionality in low-to-medium fertility contexts. Topic editors: Jie Zhou, Lingling Shi, Antonio Rafael Sánchez-Rodríguez, Xiquan Wang, Hongyuan Zhang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86621/sustainable-transformation-of-low-to-medium-fertility-farmlands-enhancing-soil-health-and-productivity-through-climate-smart-practices