Effects of Long-Term Straw Management and Potassium Fertilization on Crop Yield, Soil Properties, and Microbial Community in a Rice-Oilseed Rape Rotation

The present study aims to assess the influences of long-term crop straw returning and recommended potassium fertilization on the dynamic change in rice and oilseed rape yield, soil properties, bacterial and fungal alpha diversity, and community composition in a rice-oilseed rape system. A long-term (2011-2020) field experiment was carried out in a selected paddy soil farmland in Jianghan Plain, central China. There were four treatments with three replications: NP, NPK, NPS, and NPKS, where nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), potassium (K), and (S) denote N fertilizer, P fertilizer, K fertilizer, and crop straw, respectively. Results showed that long-term K fertilization and crop straw returning could increase the crop yield at varying degrees for ten years. Compared with the NP treatment, the long-term crop straw incorporation with K fertilizer (NPKS treatment) was found to have the best effect, and the yield rates increased by 23.0% and 20.5% for rice and oilseed rape, respectively. The application of NPK fertilizer for ten years decreased the bacterial and fungal alpha diversity and the relative abundance of dominant bacterial and fungal taxa, whereas continuous straw incorporation had a contradictory effect. NPKS treatment significantly increased the relative abundance of some copiotrophic bacteria (Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Proteobacteria) and fungi (Ascomycota). Available K, soil organic matter, dissolved organic carbon, and easily oxidized organic carbon were closely related to alterations in the composition of the dominant bacterial community; easily oxidized organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and slowly available K were significantly correlated with the fungal community. We conclude that long-term crop straw returning to the field accompanied with K fertilizer should be employed in rice-growing regions to achieve not only higher crop yield but also the increase in soil active organic carbon and available K content and the improvement of the biological quality of farmland.

Automated summary

The study found that long-term potassium fertilization and crop straw returning can significantly increase rice and oilseed rape yields, with the NPKS treatment being the most effective. However, continuous NPK fertilizer application decreases bacterial and fungal diversity, while straw incorporation has the opposite effect. Soil active organic carbon and available potassium content increase with these practices.