IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i6p1187-d1165006.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Soil Quality Mediates the Corn Yield in a Thin-Layer Mollisol in Northeast China

Author

Listed:
  • Wei Fang

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
    College of Earth Sciences, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China)

  • Xuemei Zhong

    (College of Earth Sciences, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China)

  • Xinhua Peng

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

  • Linyuan Li

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

  • Shaoliang Zhang

    (School of Resources and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China)

  • Lei Gao

    (State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China)

Abstract

Soil quality (SQ) is critical to sustainable agricultural development. It is sensitive to the crop yield, especially in thin-layer black-soil regions, which have experienced severe degradation in recent years. However, how to evaluate the SQ and its influence on land productivity is not clear in regions with thin black-soil coverage. Therefore, an integrated soil quality index (SQI) was constructed using diverse datasets along a 30 km transect in a typical thin-layer black-soil region of China. The results showed that obvious soil degradation was observed in this area. Black-soil thickness (BST), soil organic matter (SOM), and the total nitrogen (TN) content were the most strongly correlated with corn yield among the 13 investigated indexes, with Pearson coefficients of 0.65, 0.39 and 0.34, respectively. The minimum-dataset-based SQI using six soil properties within 0–30 cm was the optimal solution for SQ evaluation in the study area. The good performance of the established SQI using the optimal method was supported by its strong correlation with the corn yield, with a Pearson coefficient and linear R 2 of 0.75 and 0.56, respectively. The BST identified by differences in colour across the soil profile provided powerful information for the SQI, the value of which would be underestimated by 8% if this index were ignored. The linear R 2 between the SQI and corn yield decreased from 0.56 to 0.49 when the BST index was removed. This study showed the significance of improving the SQ in thin-layer black-soil regions. The core of soil management is to prevent the losses of surface black soil and improve the SOM content in this region. These findings can help farmers and decision makers adopt proper measures to improve SQ and thereby crop yield.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Fang & Xuemei Zhong & Xinhua Peng & Linyuan Li & Shaoliang Zhang & Lei Gao, 2023. "Soil Quality Mediates the Corn Yield in a Thin-Layer Mollisol in Northeast China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:1187-:d:1165006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1187/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/6/1187/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mingliang Jiang & Ligang Xu & Xiaobing Chen & Hua Zhu & Hongxiang Fan, 2020. "Soil Quality Assessment Based on a Minimum Data Set: A Case Study of a County in the Typical River Delta Wetlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Salman A. H. Selmy & Salah H. Abd Al-Aziz & Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta & Francisco Jesús García-Navarro & Mohamed E. Fadl, 2021. "Soil Quality Assessment Using Multivariate Approaches: A Case Study of the Dakhla Oasis Arid Lands," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    3. Leilei Wen & Fenli Zheng & Haiou Shen & Feng Bian & Yiliang Jiang, 2015. "Rainfall intensity and inflow rate effects on hillslope soil erosion in the Mollisol region of Northeast China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 79(1), pages 381-395, October.
    4. Xiaoyan Li & Huiying Li & Limin Yang & Yongxing Ren, 2018. "Assessment of Soil Quality of Croplands in the Corn Belt of Northeast China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jun Luo & Xueyang Ma & Lei Wang & Bin Zhang & Xiao Yang & Tianxiang Yue, 2022. "The Influence of Short-Term Heavy Rainfall on Hydraulic Characteristics and Rill Formation in the Yuanmou Dry-Hot Valley," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-21, November.
    2. Yingying Xing & Ning Wang & Xiaoli Niu & Wenting Jiang & Xiukang Wang, 2021. "Assessment of Potato Farmland Soil Nutrient Based on MDS-SQI Model in the Loess Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Salar Rezapour & Amin Nouri & Hawzhin M. Jalil & Shawn A. Hawkins & Scott B. Lukas, 2021. "Influence of Treated Wastewater Irrigation on Soil Nutritional-Chemical Attributes Using Soil Quality Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Salman A. H. Selmy & Salah H. Abd Al-Aziz & Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta & Francisco Jesús García-Navarro & Mohamed E. Fadl, 2021. "Modeling and Assessing Potential Soil Erosion Hazards Using USLE and Wind Erosion Models in Integration with GIS Techniques: Dakhla Oasis, Egypt," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-29, November.
    5. Shuangxi Miao & Shuyu Wang & Chunyan Huang & Xiaohong Xia & Lingling Sang & Jianxi Huang & Han Liu & Zheng Zhang & Junxiao Zhang & Xu Huang & Fei Gao, 2023. "A Big Data Grided Organization and Management Method for Cropland Quality Evaluation," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Yu Song & Wenlong Li & Yating Xue & Huakun Zhou & Wenying Wang & Chenli Liu, 2021. "Impact of Industrial Pollution of Cadmium on Traditional Crop Planting Areas and Land Management: A Case Study in Northwest China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Fuqiang Dai & Zhiqiang Lv & Gangcai Liu, 2018. "Assessing Soil Quality for Sustainable Cropland Management Based on Factor Analysis and Fuzzy Sets: A Case Study in the Lhasa River Valley, Tibetan Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, September.
    8. Yiming Fu & Yaoping Cui & Yaochen Qin & Nan Li & Liangyu Chen & Haoming Xia, 2019. "Continued Hydrothermal and Radiative Pressure on Changed Cropland in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-14, July.
    9. Deepesh Goyal & Varun Joshi & Neha Gupta & Marina M. S. Cabral-Pinto, 2022. "Soil Quality Assessment in a Landslide Chronosequence of Indian Himalayan Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, October.
    10. Yichun Ma & Zhongwu Li & Liang Tian & Yifan Yang & Wenqing Li & Zijuan He & Xiaodong Nie & Yaojun Liu, 2023. "Erosion of Granite Red Soil Slope and Processes of Subsurface Flow Generation, Prediction, and Simulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Xiaoyan Li & Limin Yang & Yongxing Ren & Huiying Li & Zongming Wang, 2018. "Impacts of Urban Sprawl on Soil Resources in the Changchun–Jilin Economic Zone, China, 2000–2015," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Fengkui Qian & Yuanjun Yu & Xiuru Dong & Hanlong Gu, 2023. "Soil Quality Evaluation Based on a Minimum Data Set (MDS)—A Case Study of Tieling County, Northeast China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, June.
    13. Mohamed S. Shokr & Mostafa. A. Abdellatif & Ahmed A. El Baroudy & Abdelrazek Elnashar & Esmat F. Ali & Abdelaziz A. Belal & Wael. Attia & Mukhtar Ahmed & Ali A. Aldosari & Zoltan Szantoi & Mohamed E. , 2021. "Development of a Spatial Model for Soil Quality Assessment under Arid and Semi-Arid Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:6:p:1187-:d:1165006. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.