Using organic fertilizers to increase crop yield, economic growth, and soil quality in a temperate farmland

PeerJ

article

Yu Cen¹  Liyue Guo¹  Meizhen Liu¹  Xian Gu¹  Caihong Li¹  Gaoming Jiang¹ 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environment Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

关键词: Rapeseed meal;    Soybean meal;    Cattle manure;    Crop yield;    Soil chemical characteristics;    Soil aggregate;    Microbial biomass;    PLFA;    Soil quality;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.9668

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

We used a constant total N application base rate to conduct a two-year field experiment comparing the effects of three organic fertilizers (rapeseed meal (RSM), soybean meal (SBM), and cattle manure (CM)) on the crop yield, economic growth, and soil quality of a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system. Winter wheat and summer maize in rapeseed meal treatment (RSMT), soybean meal treatment (SBMT), and cattle manure treatment (CMT) showed yield increases of 161%, 299%, and 256%, respectively, when compared to no organic fertilizer treatment (CK) (P < 0.05). The annual net incomes of SBMT and CMT were 1.46 and 1.42 times higher, respectively, than RSMT. Compared to the results of the CK group, RSM, SBM, and CM stimulated the soil physically, chemically, and biologically. We found the highest soil macroaggregate proportions, soil organic matter (SOM) levels, total N (TN) levels, and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) levels in SBMT. The highest soil pH, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) levels, and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) levels were observed in CMT. We used a soil quality index (SQI) to evaluate soil quality. After the two-year fertilization treatments, we calculated the SQI using a minimum data set (MDS). We used SOM levels and actinomycete quantity for the MDS properties. The SQI values were significantly different across the four treatments, with the highest values occurring in SBMT, then CMT and RSMT. In conclusion, SBM and CM were more effective than RSM at maintaining crop yield, economic growth, and soil quality.

【 授权许可】

CC BY