Sustainable Agriculture under Drought Stress

Dr. Hassan Etesami is a research scientist with 15 years of experience in the field of soil biology and biotechnology. He obtained his doctor’s degree from the Department of Soil Science, University College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Iran, where he is currently a member of the faculty. Dr Etesami has a special interest in developing biofertilizers and biocontrol agents that meet farmers’ demands. He has coauthored over 80 publications (research papers, review papers, and book chapters) in various areas including biofertilizers and biocontrol. He is also reviewer for the Journal of 98 journals. Dr. Etesami’s research areas include stressed-agricultural management by silicon, microbial ecology, bio-fertilizers, soil pollution, integrated management of abiotic (salinity, drought, heavy metals, and nutritional imbalance) and biotic (fungal pathogens) stresses, plant-microbe-interactions, environmental microbiology, and bioremediation. Dr. Yinglong Chen is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at The University of Western Australia. With over 30 years of research experience, Dr. Chen’s work focuses on the structure and functions of plant roots and rhizosphere interactions. Through the development of innovative phenotyping platforms, he has pioneered world-first studies that characterize root trait variability across diverse germplasms in major food crops and their responses to environmental stressors. Dr. Chen has authored over 400 publications, including 11 authored books. His extensive body of work and leadership in editorial roles underscore his commitment to advancing agricultural science and fostering innovation in the field.

• Section 1: Water scarcity, climate change and agriculture sustainability1. Impact of climate change and drought stress on arid land agriculture2. Growing water scarcity in agriculture: Future challenge to global water security3. Wastewater reuse, water conservation and management in semi-arid and arid lands for sustainable agriculture4. Strategies for deficit irrigation of crops5. New approaches to irrigation scheduling of agronomic crops6. A Contribution to soil fertility assessment for arid and semi-arid lands7. Sustainable crops to cope with water scarcity and low nutritional demand8. Sustainable fruit trees to cope with water scarcity and low nutritional demand9. Impacts of climate change/drought stress on plant Metabolome10. Impacts of drought on disease development and managementSection 2: Linking water stress and crop nutrition11. Problems of soil nutrient availability for crop production under drought stress12. Effects of drought stress on soil nitrogen cycling13. Plant growth under drought stress: Significance of mineral nutrients14. Novel aspects of fertilization in arid and semiarid regionsSection 3: Improving the soil fertility under drought conditions15. Improving the efficiency of nutrient transfer from fertilizers under drought conditions16. Changes of soil microbial, physical and chemical characteristics under drought stress17. The impact of drought stress on soil microbial community, enzyme activities and microbial diversity18. Drought stress and root-Associated bacterial communities19. Drought stress and root-Associated fungal communities20. Dynamics of soil fertility management practices in arid and semi-arid regions21. Soil fertility management for cereal crops in semi-arid and arid conditions22. Improving soil fertility and moisture in arid and semi-arid regions using organic amendmentsSection 4: Positive Interactions between crops and soil microorganisms to enhance the drought tolerance23. Reclamation of arid and semi-arid soils: The role of plant growth-promoting archaea and bacteria24. Reclamation of arid and semi-arid soils: The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi25. Improved soil water retention and reduced evaporation in drought-stressed agriculture by soil beneficial microbes26. Rhizosphere engineering for managing agriculture in arid and semi-arid regionsSection 5: Crop physiological and yield responses to water stress27. Effect of soil drought on plant root systems and nutrient availability28. Plant drought stress tolerance: understanding its physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms29. Crop root responses to drought stress: Molecular mechanisms, nutrient regulations, and interactions with microorganisms in the rhizosphere30. Water management in irrigated rice: coping with water scarcity