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Agronomy
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Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality
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Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 3537

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Wenxiu Zou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China
Interests: soil fertility; relationship between soil and crop; soil structure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil nutrient dynamics can reflect the history of soil management and is an important factor impacting crop yield. The lack of research on soil nutrient dynamics may affect crop nutrient managements practices and chemical fertilizer utilization, which could increase chemical fertilizer input and decrease fertilizer use efficiency. This threatens environmental quality and deeply influences the sustainable development of regional agriculture. This Special Issue is focused on soil fertility, soil nutrient cycling and agronomy practices that can improve soil quality and increase crop yield. This research topic will help us to understand the effect of different agronomy practices on soil fertility, crop nutrient uptake and crop productivity. Cutting-edge research on the relationship between nutrient availability, soil microorganisms and soil structure is welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  1. Key factors impacting soil nutrients dynamics in arable land;
  2. Nutrient cycling process in different agronomy practices;
  3. Effect of long-term agronomy practices (e.g., tillage practices and fertilization) on soil nutrient, crop yield and fertilizer use efficiency;
  4. Nutrient transformation driven by microorganisms.

Dr. Wenxiu Zou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil nutrient management
  • soil nutrients cycling
  • soil tillage
  • soil amendment
  • crop yield
  • long-term fertilization
  • crop nutrient uptake

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1431 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Agricultural Management Alters Soil Fungal Communities and Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Contents in Tea Plantations
by Ying Luo, Shaobo Zhang, Qiang Hu, Fuyin Huang, Demeng Bao, Xin Li, Chunwang Dong, Shuixing Zhu, Jianyu Fu and Peng Yan
Agronomy 2024, 14(12), 2779; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14122779 - 22 Nov 2024
Viewed by 296
Abstract
Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are vital for enhancing tea production and ensuring the sustainability of tea plantation ecosystems. However, research on the dynamics of soil C and N pools and their associated microbial mechanisms in tea plantations with varying cultivation durations [...] Read more.
Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are vital for enhancing tea production and ensuring the sustainability of tea plantation ecosystems. However, research on the dynamics of soil C and N pools and their associated microbial mechanisms in tea plantations with varying cultivation durations is scarce. We compared soil samples from a forest and two tea plantations—young established (YTP) and century-old (OTP)—to assess changes in soil C and N concentrations and the impact of fungal community structure on these elements. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) were markedly higher in OTP than in the YTP and forest (65.9% and 30.1%, respectively, relative to YTP). Eurotiomycetes in the YTP group accounted for a relatively higher proportion at 51.6%, surpassing its presence in both the forest (14.3%) and OTP (4.78%) groups and it can be the main microbial factor affecting the C cycle in tea plantation soils and facilitating SOC mineralization. Enhancing planting years or changing land use patterns improves fertilizer and biomass sedimentation and increases the relative abundance of Eurotiomycetes in the soil and the C sink potential of tea plantations. This study provides valuable insights into the role of soil C and N dynamics and fungal communities in tea plantation ecosystems, highlighting the importance of managing these factors for sustainable tea production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality)
18 pages, 5400 KiB  
Article
Variation in Soil Hydrothermal after 29-Year Straw Return in Northeast China during the Freeze–Thaw Process
by Haiyu Li, Meng Li, Shuli Wang and Ming Gao
Agronomy 2024, 14(7), 1525; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071525 - 13 Jul 2024
Viewed by 644
Abstract
In seasonal agricultural frozen soil areas, the straw return may influence the freeze–thaw characteristics by changing the soil organic matter and porosity. Monitoring moisture and heat in the freeze–thaw period is significant for preventing spring waterlogging and reasonable planting arrangements. However, the effect [...] Read more.
In seasonal agricultural frozen soil areas, the straw return may influence the freeze–thaw characteristics by changing the soil organic matter and porosity. Monitoring moisture and heat in the freeze–thaw period is significant for preventing spring waterlogging and reasonable planting arrangements. However, the effect of long-term straw return on the soil freeze–thaw process is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of soil temperature (ST) and soil moisture (SM) between straw-return cropland (SF) for 29 consecutive years and no-fertilization cropland (NF) during freeze–thaw progress in northeast China. The soil in both sites underwent unidirectional freezing and bidirectional thawing processes. The soil freezing and thawing dates in the NF of the profile occurred earlier than that in the SF. The NF had higher frozen depth and freezing rate than the SF and exhibited a larger range of ST variation and higher heat transmission efficiency. The SM showed a declining trend before the ST started to decrease to a freezing point at different depths in both sites. The migrated SM in most soil layers decreased during monitoring. The relationship between SM and negative ST was a power function at different frozen depths. The SM decreased rapidly in the range of −2–0 °C in both sites. During phase changes, the SF and NF consumed 33.0 and 43.6 MJ m−2, respectively. The results can partially explain the response of straw return to soil hydrothermal variation during the freeze-thaw process. This study may provide an integral theory for effectively utilizing agricultural soil hydrothermal resource in northeast China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality)
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16 pages, 3249 KiB  
Article
Land Degradation Affects Soil Microbial Properties, Organic Matter Composition, and Maize Yield
by Ming Gao, Meng Li, Shuli Wang and Xinchun Lu
Agronomy 2024, 14(7), 1348; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071348 - 21 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1124
Abstract
Land degradation severely affects soil functions, thereby weakening crop productivity. However, the quantitative effects of the soil organic matter (SOM) composition and soil microbial properties on maize yield remain unclear under different levels of land degradation. Here, a gradient of land degradation was [...] Read more.
Land degradation severely affects soil functions, thereby weakening crop productivity. However, the quantitative effects of the soil organic matter (SOM) composition and soil microbial properties on maize yield remain unclear under different levels of land degradation. Here, a gradient of land degradation was selected for sampling in the Horqin Sandy Land in northeast China. The results show that the relative abundances of aliphatic and aromatic groups decreased by 21.51% and 86.01% with increasing land degradation, respectively, and the considerable increase in polysaccharide groups led to a decrease in stability and resistance to SOM decomposition. Microbial properties, such as microbial biomass carbon, basic respiration, qCO2, and enzyme activities, decreased as a result of land degradation. The phospholipid fatty acid content and the ratio between bacteria and fungi markedly decreased with an increasing level of land degradation, and the ratio of G+ to G− markedly increased. Correlation analysis confirmed that the microbial properties were significantly related to the SOM composition, and the random forest model indicated that fungi were key factors affecting maize yield (7.15%, p < 0.05). Moreover, the results of the structure equation modelling revealed that land degradation reduced the soil physiochemical properties, resulting in a decrease in microorganisms, causing variations in the SOM composition and directly leading to a decrease in crop yield. The effect of microorganisms (β = 0.84 ***) on maize yield was greater than that of the SOM composition (β = 0.53 **). Our investigation can provide a theoretical basis for the conservation of the cropland in Horqin Sandy Land. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality)
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15 pages, 3605 KiB  
Article
Inversion Tillage Combined with Organic Fertilizer Application Increased Maize Yield via Improving Soil Pore Structure and Enzymatic Activity in Haplic Chernozem
by Chunzhu Liu, Xiaozeng Han, Xu Chen, Jun Yan, Xinchun Lu, Bo Song, Wei Wang, Wenxiu Zou and Xianfa Ma
Agronomy 2024, 14(5), 927; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14050927 - 28 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1040
Abstract
Inversion tillage and organic fertilizer application can break the plow pan and improve soil quality. However, the effects of combining these practices on the soil microbial resource limitation and maize yield in Haplic Chernozem are unclear. In this research, a field experiment was [...] Read more.
Inversion tillage and organic fertilizer application can break the plow pan and improve soil quality. However, the effects of combining these practices on the soil microbial resource limitation and maize yield in Haplic Chernozem are unclear. In this research, a field experiment was established in 2018, and soil samples were collected in 2021 in Longjiang County in Northeast China, which is a Haplic Chernozem region. Four treatments comprising conventional tillage (T15), conventional tillage with organic fertilizer (T15+M), inversion tillage (T35), and inversion tillage with organic fertilizer (T35+M) were randomly arranged with four replications. Compared with T15 and T15+M treatments, soil bulk density significantly decreased by 11.1–16.3% in the 15–35 cm layer under T35 and T35+M treatments, accompanied by the improvement in soil pore structure (e.g., soil porosity, circularity, and Euler number). T15+M treatment significantly increased soil organic carbon and soil nutrient contents by 11.1–16.3% and 3.9–24.5% in the 0–15 cm layer compared with other treatments. However, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus content, microbial biomass, and enzymatic activities reached the maximum values in the 0–35 cm layer under T35+M treatment. In addition, T35+M treatment had the highest maize yield and sustainable yield index. Extracellular enzymatic stoichiometry suggested that soil microorganisms are generally co-limited by carbon and phosphorus in Haplic Chernozem. However, T35+M treatment significantly reduced soil microbial resource limitation, which was one important factor impacting maize yield and sustainability. Random-forest and partial least-squares path modeling showed that T35+M treatment could reduce soil microbial resource limitation and increase the stability and sustainability of the maize yield by improving soil available nutrients, microbial biomass, and pore structure. Therefore, the incorporation of inversion tillage and organic fertilizer is a suitable soil management practice in view of increasing soil quality and crop yields in a Haplic Chernozem region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Arable Farming Measures on Soil Quality)
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