Drip Fertigation and Integrated Water–Nutrient Management: Mechanisms, Innovations, and Pathways to Sustainable Crop Production

Efficient water and nutrient management lies at the heart of sustainable agriculture and global food security. Conventional irrigation and fertilization practices often result in low resource-use efficiency, yield instability, and environmental risks such as nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas emissions. In the context of climate change and increasing water scarcity, drip fertigation—a central component of integrated water–nutrient management—has emerged as a transformative solution. By synchronizing nutrient delivery with plant water uptake, it enhances water- and nutrient-use efficiency, stabilizes yields, and promotes climate-resilient production systems. Moreover, drip fertigation reshapes crop phenology, improves grain filling, regulates dry matter accumulation and translocation, and optimizes rhizosphere processes. However, the mechanistic understanding of how drip fertigation drives physiological, ecological, and agronomic responses remains incomplete, and further interdisciplinary research is urgently needed to fully harness its potential for sustainable intensification.

This Research Topic aims to deepen mechanistic insights and foster technological innovations in drip fertigation and integrated water–nutrient management. We seek to address key questions regarding physiological, ecological, and agronomic mechanisms underlying yield formation and resource-use efficiency. By integrating field experimentation, remote sensing, crop modeling, and digital agriculture technologies, this collection will provide a comprehensive framework linking fertigation strategies with sustainable productivity and environmental stewardship. We encourage contributions that not only demonstrate agronomic and environmental benefits but also uncover the underlying mechanisms and system-level implications of drip fertigation in diverse agro-ecosystems.

We welcome a broad range of contributions, including Original Research, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Methods, and Perspectives. Topics of interest include:

• Physiological and ecological mechanisms of yield formation under drip fertigation.

• Impacts on crop phenology, grain filling, biomass accumulation, and translocation.

• Soil–plant–atmosphere interactions and rhizosphere processes in fertigation systems.

• Innovative fertigation strategies, including controlled-release fertilizers, inhibitors, and organic nutrient integration.

• Remote sensing, modeling, and digital tools for fertigation optimization.

• Sustainability assessments of water- and nutrient-use efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil health.

• Socio-economic and policy perspectives for scaling drip fertigation adoption.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Drip fertigation, Water–nutrient coupling, Resource-use efficiency, Sustainable intensification, Climate-smart agriculture

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.