An Approach to Improve Soil Quality: a Case Study of Straw Incorporation with a Decomposer Under Full Film-Mulched Ridge-Furrow Tillage on the Semiarid Loess Plateau, China

Abstract

There is limited understanding of the effects of straw incorporation with decomposition agent (refer to decomposer) under full plastic film-mulched ridge-furrow tillage (FM) on straw decomposition rate and soil fertility. A direct field incubation test of straw with and without decomposer (T1 and T2) under FM using the litter bag method and a 3-year field experiment of five treatments including conventional planting (CP, as control), CP with straw incorporation (CP S), CP with straw incorporation plus decomposer (CP SD), FM with straw incorporation (FM S), and FM with straw incorporation plus decomposer (FM SD) were conducted in 2014-2016. The results showed that the initial straw N content, indigenous soil nitrogen content, and soil hydrothermal conditions were all remarkably affected by maize straw decomposition, and C and N release regardless of the decomposer. Applying the decomposer resulted in 80.3% decomposition of maize straw, leading to 81.3% of straw C and 83.3% of straw N release into the soil, which were 1.4, 1.1, and 1.06 times than that of CK, respectively. Meanwhile, the FM SD was significantly better in improving soil nutritional conditions, particularly for the tested parameters of soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK). Importantly, FM SD drove a strong synergistic effect of decomposer and the modified soil hydrothermal conditions in comparison with CP, which led to the significant increase in SOC, TN, TP, AN, AP, and AK by 4.4-8.7%, 5.2-7.5%, 3.0-6.8%, 11.1-12.6%, 3.6-60.5%, and 6.2-54.6%, respectively. Therefore, FM SD is the best model for more efficient and sustainable soil fertility management in semiarid areas in China.

Effects of different returning method combined with decomposer on decomposition of organic components of straw and soil fertility

“…In our experiment, with increasing temperature and rainfall for the 0-95d after straw return to the field, overall decomposition proportion, carbon release proportion and cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin decomposition proportion of all treatments were similar, that is, they increased rapidly (Fig. 1), our finding was consistent with the work of Yang et al 35 . During the 95d-145d period, a drop in temperature and precipitation occurs, microbial decomposition activity slows down, due to the perishable nature of straw, components such as cellulose and hemicellulose gradually decline, refractory organic components such as lignin proportion increase, so straw decomposition gradually slows, and late decomposition proportion is significantly reduced 36 .…”

Soil Water-Salt Dynamics and Maize Growth as Affected by Cutting Length of Topsoil Incorporation Straw under Brackish Water Irrigation

“…In our experiment, with the straw incorporation and tillage practices, the soil structure was reorganized, resulting in the decrease in the soil bulk density and increase in the soil porosity. Yang et al [46] revealed that straw incorporation after three years decreased the soil bulk density in the 0-30 cm soil layer by 1.6%-4.7%, which was consistent with our results. Choudhary et al [47] also reported that soil application with crop residues could mitigate the adverse effect of saline water irrigation.…”

Straw Incorporation Coupled with Deep Placement of Nitrogen Fertilizer Improved Grain Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Direct-Seeded Rice

“…Previously, Wang et al (2015b) found that straw incorporation could improve NUE due to the improvement of N immobilization. In addition, Yang et al (2020) reported that complete decomposition of straw leads to the enhancement release of straw C and N into the soil which improved soil nutritional condition. However, Hoang and Marschner (2019) found that straw addition could decrease available N, compared with without straw addition.…”