Diffuse Agricultural Water Pollution: Nutrient Capture, Recovery, and Recycling Systems

Diffuse agricultural water pollution, primarily caused by excessive nutrient runoff and drainage discharge, remains a significant global challenge affecting rural and agricultural catchment streams. This pollution, characterized by complex compositions of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds, leads to anthropogenic eutrophication, a major global water pollution issue. Intensive agricultural practices exacerbate this problem, posing threats to aquatic ecosystems and water supplies.

Despite substantial investments in mitigation and control measures, agricultural runoff continues to degrade water quality. Current solutions are often compartmentalized, failing to address the operational limitations such as land area and hydraulic retention times for constructed wetlands. There is a growing recognition of the need for an integrated approach that combines source control processes, process control systems, and end-treatment technologies to achieve sustainable results. This integrated approach is crucial for advancing sustainable agricultural production while safeguarding water quality.

This Research Topic aims to address the challenge of diffuse agricultural water pollution by exploring innovative integrated nutrient control, recovery, and recycling systems. The goal is to examine four interconnected areas: the role of nutrient/trace element accumulator plant species and their interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and microbes, the recovery of nutrient-rich vegetation for biofertilizer use, the application of biochar in passive nutrient control systems, and the socio-political and economic contexts influencing agricultural practices. By investigating these areas, the research seeks to develop sustainable solutions that enhance agricultural productivity and protect water resources.

To gather further insights into the complexities of diffuse agricultural water pollution and its mitigation, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• The role of various plant species in nutrient accumulation, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, and their interactions with microbes and fungi to reduce soil nutrient loss.
• Studies comparing different plants and root zone activities for enhanced nutrient uptake and their application in mitigating soil nutrient runoff.
• The effectiveness of green manure and vegetative waste as biofertilizers, including their nutrient richness and potential farm sources.
• The efficiency of biochar for nutrient sorption in passive systems and its potential for reuse as a biofertilizer.
• The effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes such as riparian buffers and constructed wetlands, and the barriers faced by farmers in implementing natural solutions.

Keywords: nature based solutions, engineered solutions, water management, sustainable agricultural, climate change, phytoremediation, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, vegetative buffer strip, agri-environmental scheme, nutrients, phosphorus, nitrogen, circular economy, retention, recovery, agriculture, nutrient accumulators, constructed wetland, bioretention, retention pond

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.