Short-Term Responses of Soil Organic Carbon Pool and Crop Performance to Different Fertilizer Applications

Abstract

Some intensive farmers tend to expect short-term beneficial effects by applying soil amendments, but inconsistent fertilization practices are often conducted, causing economic losses and environmental problems. This study aimed at investigating the short-term application effects of different soil amendments on soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions, biogeochemical properties, and crop performance for finding the best land management approach using one-year field trial growing Chinese cabbages. This filed experiment was conducted in 2020 and included eight fertilizer treatments: control (w/o fertilizers), chemical fertilizer (CF), manure compost (MC), double MC amount (2MC), CF + MC, CF + rice husk (RH), MC + RH, and CF + MC + RH. As a result, the concentrations of recalcitrant to labile C forms, including Loss-On-Ignition C (LOIC), Walkley-Black C, permanganate oxidizable C (PDXC), and microbial biomass C, were the highest in a mixture of MC and RH and 2MC. Additionally, the treatment with the largest difference from the control in key soil parameters was 2MC: bulk density (10%), total N (30%), available P (186%), and CO2 (433%) and N2O (825%) emissions, followed by MC + RH. Moreover, more than 20% higher fresh weight (FW) of cabbage was found in 2MC and MC + RH than in the control. Therefore, these two organic amendments appeared to benefit SOC storage and overall soil biogeochemical processes, contributing to higher biomass crop production. Moreover, LOIC significantly correlated to bulk density, available P and K, and FW, while PDXC significantly correlated to N concentration in plants, indicating the short-term fertilization effects on the status of SOC fractions and the qualities of soil and plant by applying soil amendments. Overall, our findings suggest that applying MC + RH would be an alternative to replace the conventional farming practices for promoting soil quality and crop performance, but further studies to sustain the application effects of this amendment should be monitored for longer durations.