Effects of Continuous Application of Green Manures on Microbial Community in Paddy Soil

Abstract

Green manure crops have been well recognized as the alternative for chemical fertilizer, especially N fertilizer, because of its positive effect on soil and the environment. Hairy vetch and green barley are the most popular crops for cultivation of rice in paddy field. This study was conducted to evaluate effects of hairy vetch and green barley on soil microbial community and chemical properties during short-term application (three years). For this study, treatments were composed of hairy vetch (Hv), green barley (Gb), hairy vetch + green barley (Hv+Gb), and chemical fertilizer without green manure crops (Con.). Hv+Gb treatment showed the highest microbial biomass among treatments. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that PC1 (73.0 %) was affected by microbial biomass and PC2 (21.5 %) was affected by fungi, cy19:0/18:1ω7c (stress indicator). Combined treatment with hairy vetch and green barley could be more efficient than green manure crop treatment as well as chemical fertilizer treatment for improvement of soil microorganisms.