Report: Soil Improvement and Crop Production in Southern China

The report focuses on enhancing the quality and productivity of yellow clayey soil in southern China, which has low organic matter content, impacting crop yields. The study emphasizes the importance of soil organic matter and carbon sequestration for improving soil quality. The report suggests adopting practices like no-tillage and incorporating raw straw to enhance soil organic carbon. The combination of chemical fertilizers and organic materials is highlighted for its potential in carbon sequestration. The report suggests soil management practices to enhance soil structure and rice-rice crop systems. The use of farmyard manure, green manure, and straw is recommended to reduce chemical fertilizer use and compensate for carbon losses. An experimental setup involving five different fertilizer treatments, randomized block design, and yield measurements is proposed to assess the effectiveness of soil amendment techniques. The goal is to find ways to increase crop yields and the carbon content of the soil.

Part B
This part offers a brief description of yellow clayey soil with coverage of about 1.4*106 hm2 in
the southern region of China. The soil has low organic matter content and thus the availability of
nutrients has led to a reduction and low productivity of cops. The increasing human population
results in an increase in the demand for supply of food otherwise enhanced food security and
thus the need improve the quality of the soil to enhance production of crops.
The main function as well as quality of soil is defined by the soil organic matter. Still, carbon
sequestration in the agricultural soil can be suggested as a mechanism of enhancing the quality of
the soil. The amelioration of the physiochemical properties of the soil through enhancing
organic carbon has been suggested from enhancing crop yields. Maintaining as well as
improving the soil organic carbon calls for the adoption of such maintenance practices including
no tillage, fertilization, incorporation of raw straw that would be used for short term
improvements of soil organic carbon.
On the contrary, a combination of chemical fertiliser alongside organic materials demonstrate
significant potential for soil organic carbon sequestration in these paddy soils found in the
southern China mostly soils having low organic matter levels. Management of soil management
can significantly enhance the structure of the soil, aid in the retention of soil carbon in the
surface of the soil as well as enhance the production of rice-rice crop systems. Exogenous
application of the organic matter as soil amendments methods for example farmyard manure,
green manure as well as straw may aid in the reduction of the volume of chemical fertilizers that
are used besides compensating for losses in soil carbon that are as a result of changes in the land
use. Hence, an amendment of the soil using organic materials offers a reliable as well as
promising strategy for building up the levels of soil carbon in the yellow clayey soils found in

the subtropical regions of China. Rice straw retention as an amendment option has been
established to be ideal for enhancement of soil organic carbon as well as enhancing the fertility
as well as production in yellow clayey soils.
The experimental set up for investigation of the effects of the soil amendment techniques can be
attained by using five various treatments of fertilizers of the different kinds and classifications.
The experimental design is to be a randomized block having four plots or replicates for every
treatment that is used. The crop whose yield is to be tested by the various treatments is to be
grown earlier enough and the fertilizers to be used for the experiment to be similar to the ones
used by the local famers. All the fertilizers are to be applied by basal dressing in a single time
even as all the chemical nitrogen fertilizers are to be applied at least three times. The various
measurements are then taken of the findings of the experiment including the rate of germination,
the height of the plants with various treatments and above all the yield of crop for each of the
treatments used.