This Research Topic is the second volume of the Plant and Human Pathogen Interactions: Gaining Insights Into the Impact of Environmental and Crop Management Factors series:

Globally, extraordinary effort is made every day to deliver sufficient, nutritious, and safe food to our plates. Unfortunately, during the complex farm-to-fork continuum food can be exposed to the contamination by human pathogens (e.g., bacteria, virus, protozoa), leading to recurring outbreaks that affect public health and the industry. Fresh produce is of special interest since there is no “kill step” to inactivate human pathogens during the preparation before consumption. Therefore, the microbiological safety of fruit and vegetables destined to raw intake relies in the application of several strategies comprising a holistic management approach.

The transfer of human pathogens from their natural reservoirs to produce can take place either in the field or during postharvest operations (i.e., transport, processing, storage, etc.). Sources of contamination include fecal matter from intruding animals harboring microbes, low microbiological-quality water, poorly treated manure, and inappropriate hygiene of workers. Outbreak investigations and quantitative risk assessments have revealed that field incidents are the major cause of contamination and that inadequate postharvest practices might provoke the issue to spread significantly. Field production of fruit and vegetables occur under the combination of several environmental conditions and involves multiple agronomic practices. Understanding how environmental and crop management factors (or the interaction between them) affect the contamination of fresh produce by human pathogens is a valuable tool to provide scientific-based preventive recommendations.

This Research Topic seeks to gain and exhibit in a comprehensive manner further knowledge regarding the impact of environmental and crop management factors in the contamination of produce by human pathogens. We expect that the studies gathered here contribute to the long-term improvement of fresh produce growing practices to reduce or prevent pathogen contamination.

Specific themes that are of relevance for the topic are:

- Environmental factors including temperature, relative humidity, radiation, soil, nutrients, microbiome, atmospheric gases, etc.

- Crop management factors including genotype selection, rotation, tillage, irrigation, fertilization, harvest techniques, etc.

- Interactions between environmental and crop management factors.

Authors are welcomed to submit all types of articles, including original research, reviews, and methods.

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Plant and Human Pathogen Interactions: Gaining Insights Into the Impact of Environmental and Crop Management Factors: Volume II