Abstract
Our objective was to optimize soil management practices to improve soil health to increase peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yield. We studied the effects of using rotary tillage with mulching film or without [rotary tillage with no mulching (RTNM)], plow tillage with mulching film or without, and green manure with mulching film (GMMF) or without [green manure with no mulching (GMNM)] over 3 years in Tai’an, China. Results showed that compared with RTNM treatment, GMNM and GMMF treatments significantly (P < 0.05) increased soil organic carbon, enzymatic activity, and the available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content. The dominant bacterial phyla in the soil across all treatments were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Bacterial richness and diversity in the soil were significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced after GMMF and GMNM treatments compared with those after RTNM treatment. The linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis indicated that Chloroflexi abundance in the 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers changed significantly (P < 0.05) after rotary tillage with mulching film and RTNM treatments, respectively, whereas that of Bacteroidetes changed significantly (P < 0.05) in the 0–10 layer after GMNM treatment. The abundance of the Xanthobacteraceae family of Proteobacteria in both soil layers changed significantly (P < 0.05) after GMNM and GMMF treatments. Redundancy analysis revealed that soil physical (soil bulk density and water content), chemical (soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), and biological (soil enzymatic activity and nutrient content) characteristics affect the soil bacterial community. Changed soil quality indices may be favorable for leaf photo-assimilate accumulation. Compared with RTNM treatment, GMNM and GMMF treatments significantly increased photosynthesis rate in the peanut leaf and decreased intercellular carbon dioxide concentration. Our results showed that compared with that after RTNM treatment, the average pod yield after GMMF and GMNM treatments increased by 27.85 and 21.26%, respectively, due to increases in the pods per plant and plant numbers. The highest yield of all treatments was obtained from the GMMF-treated plot, followed by that from the GMNM-treated plots. Thus, taking into consideration the residual pollution caused by plastic films, we propose GMNM as a suitable strategy to improve soil physicochemical and microbial properties and to increase the peanut pod yield.
Highlights
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important oil crops in the world
photosynthesis rate (PN) exhibited 5.3 and 4.5% increases in plants subjected to plow tillage with mulching film (PTMF) and green manure with mulching film (GMMF) treatments, respectively, when compared with plants under plow tillage without mulching film (PTNM) and green manure with no mulching (GMNM) treatments, respectively, across the three growing seasons
This, in turn, decreased leaf photosynthesis rate and peanut pod yield when compared with conventional tillage treatment
Summary
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important oil crops in the world. In particular, China is the largest peanut producer globally, with major peanut production concentrated in the northern region of the country and production levels that have increased substantially over the past few decades (Yao, 2004). Continuous cropping could lead to land degradation, which is referred to as the continuous cropping obstacle (Chen et al, 2017) and is associated with numerous factors such as the deterioration of soil structure (Puerta et al, 2018), a decline in soil fertility (Wacal et al, 2019), and changes in the soil microbial community structure (Chen et al, 2018). Such changes could, in turn, decrease plant development and reduce crop yield. The maintenance and improvement of soil quality in peanut continuous cropping systems is critical for sustainable peanut production and the environment
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