Effects of Tillage and Straw Mulching on Soil Hydrothermal and Nutrient Content in Agricultural Soil

Abstract

Long-term intensive tillage has led to soil environment degradation, reduced fertility, and difficulty in increasing crop yield in the Mollisol region of northeast China. In order to improve the soil’shydrothermal environment and nutrient content, we conducted field experiments to investigate the effects of different tillage practices and the amount of straw mulching on soil hydrothermal environment and nutrient content in agricultural soils in seasonal permafrost areas. Four treatments were established: no-tillage without straw (NT0), no-tillage with half straw mulching (NT1), no-tillage with full straw mulching (NT2), and rotary tillage without straw (CK) as the control treatment. The results indicate that the no-tillage with straw mulching treatments increased the soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) content, accompanied by improvements in the soil’s water content and regulation of soil temperature changes, as compared to the CK treatment. Specifically, the soil’s NH4+-N and NO3−-N content in the NT2 treatment were significantly increased by 25.65% and 38.81%, respectively. Our study indicates that NT2 treatment is the most suitable tillage practice and straw-returning method in the Mollisol region of northeast China. This study can provide a theoretical basis and reference for the efficient utilization of farmland soil in seasonal permafrost areas.