Irrigation with saline water is a possible solution to alleviate freshwater shortages. The long-term use of saline water for irrigation requires consideration of the influence of salt on the environmental conditions of the soil. The objective of this field study was to determine the effects of three continuous years of saline water irrigation on physiochemical properties and microbial communities in drip-irrigated cotton fields. The three total dissolved solid (TDS) levels of irrigation water treatments were (i) 1 g L⁻¹ (fresh water, FWI), (ii) 3 g L⁻¹ (brackish water, BWI), and (iii) 7 g L⁻¹ (salt water, SWI). After three years, the electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), and contents of K⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl⁻, and SO₄²⁻ in the SWI treatment were significantly higher than those in the FWI and BWI treatments, but there were no significant differences in EC and K⁺ between the FWI and BWI treatments. BWI treatment significantly increased microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), urease, and sucrase contents. The diversity and abundance of bacteria and fungi were not affected by saline water irrigation, but the microbial community structure was altered. Saline water irrigation resulted in an elevation in the bacterial abundance of the phylum Chloroflexi and a decline in Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. For fungi, the abundance of the phylum Ascomycota in the BWI treatment was greater than that in the FWI and SWI treatments. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (NMDS) results indicated clear variation in the microbiota profiles between the FWI, BWI, and SWI treatments for bacteria. Regarding the fungal microbiota profiles, the BWI and SWI treatments had similar microbiota profiles but were different from the FWI treatment. The number of bacterial biomarkers gradually increased with increasing total dissolved solids of irrigation water, while the number of fungal biomarkers gradually decreased. Additionally, cotton yield was significantly and positively correlated with the observed species of fungi, while it was significantly and negatively correlated with EC. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that bacterial community structure was regulated by SAR and fungal community structure was regulated by soil salinity and bulk density (BD). Future research will need to look into how the structure of the microbial community and the associated functional microorganisms are gradually changing with increased irrigation frequency under saline irrigation, as well as explore and screen for advantageous functional microorganisms.

Biochar is a potential solution for addressing environmental problems related to excessive nitrogen (N). However, there is still some debate about the absorption and desorption of nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N). Therefore, this study investigated the NO₃⁻-N adsorption and desorption performance onto biochar and biochar-soil mixture to address this gap. The results showed that the biochar produced from apple branches had the ability to absorb NO₃⁻-N with an absorption capacity of 3.51 mg·g⁻¹. The absorption data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model. The application of biochar significantly improved soil absorption capacity and slow release of NO₃⁻-N. While higher NO₃⁻-N concentrations had better NO₃⁻-N supply capacity and poorer slow-release effect. Integrating nutrient supply and slow-release effect, it is recommended to control the application ratio of biochar to NO₃⁻-N at 34–42.75 g·g⁻¹. Although the unoptimized biochar application rate cannot be directly applied to the soil as a slow-release fertilizer carrier to meet commercial standards, biochar modification provides new possibilities for this purpose. Moreover, compared with traditional slow-release fertilizer, biochar had good stability and regeneration performance, alleviating the high cost due to the biochar price. In general, biochar still has potential and prospects as a slow-release material. This study provides support for biochar in mitigating environmental problems associated with excess N.

The inefficient irrigation strategy is an important factor affecting the yield and water productivity of tomatoes in greenhouses, seriously hindering the development of the cultivation industry. While the impact of irrigation level on tomato growth and yield has been extensively studied, irrigation interval, another crucial component of irrigation schedule, as well as their interaction, remain poorly explored. There were four irrigation levels (W1: 125% ET_c, W2: 100% ET_c, W3: 75% ET_c, and W4: 50% ET_c; ET_c represented crop evapotranspiration) and three irrigation intervals (D1: 4-day interval, D2: 7-day interval, and D3: 10-day interval), aiming to explore the effects of different irrigation intervals and levels on the performance of tomatoes. Here, we showed that the moderate increases in irrigation level and interval promoted root growth, improved nitrogen uptake and distribution, and enhanced plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, and aboveground biomass, thereby promoting the net photosynthetic rate of plants and fruit yield. The fruit quality indicators of total soluble solids, vitamin C, and soluble sugar decreased with increasing irrigation level but increased with decreasing irrigation interval. Higher irrigation levels increased tomato water consumption and resulted in lower water-nitrogen use efficiency. Overall, compared with W2D2 and W2D3, the yield of W2D1 increased by 8.0% and 26.1%, respectively, and the water productivity increased by 5.7% and 19.3%, respectively, and the soluble sugar increased by 7.1% and 17.5%, respectively. In addition, nitrogen uptake in tomato organs increased and then decreased with the increase of irrigation level, while it consistently increased with decreasing irrigation interval. At the harvest period, the nitrogen uptake in plant organs followed the order of fruit > leaf > stem. Taken together, W2D1 (100% ET_c and 4-day interval) is the recommended irrigation strategy for this experiment, which can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for the sustainable production strategy of greenhouse drip irrigation tomatoes.

Optimizing orchard mulching regimes is a pivotal strategy for mitigating the detrimental effects of water scarcity and soil degradation on kiwifruit productivity in the Guanzhong Plain, China. To characterize the integrated effects of varying mulching patterns, a two-year field study was conducted in a kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) orchard, evaluating four treatments: (1) FG: intra-row fabric with inter-row grass (multiple mulch); (2) FN: intra-row fabric with inter-row bare soil; (3) NG: intra-row bare soil with inter-row grass; and (4) NN: intra-row bare soil with inter-row bare soil. Understanding the impacts of these regimes on the edaphic environment, photosynthetic performance, and sugar metabolism is essential for improving kiwifruit production under semi-arid conditions. The results demonstrated that the FG treatment significantly improved soil water storage (SWS), with an increase of 1.83–55.16 mm, and enhanced the soil nutrient content (NH₄⁺-N, NO₃⁻-N, and soil organic matter), thereby optimizing the rhizosphere environment. During the critical phenological stages, the FG treatment increased the leaf photosynthetic parameters, such as the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), and stomatal conductance (Gs), while reducing the intercellular CO₂ concentration (Ci). Specifically, grass mulching (FG and NG) elevated the chlorophyll a content during early growth and carotenoids levels throughout reproduction, whereas fabric mulching (FG and FN) enhanced the chlorophyll b content throughout the entire reproductive period. Collectively, these improvements bolstered photosynthetic efficiency and may have contributed to improved carbon allocation and sugar accumulation. All three mulching treatments (FG, FN, and NG) significantly improved the fruit yield-related parameters, including the total fruit number per plant (PFN), single fruit weight (SFW), and yield (Y), as well as the fruit sugar-related indices, such as soluble solids content (TSS), total soluble sugar content (TS), reducing sugar (TRS), and the sugar–acid ratio (SAR). The partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) revealed that these improvements were primarily driven by the synergistic optimization of SWS and photosynthetic productivity. Notably, the model identified a physiological trade-off between yield formation and sugar accumulation, while the overall fruit quality exerted a strong positive influence on sugar metabolism. The correlation analysis indicated that the higher fruit sucrose accumulation under the FG and FN treatments were associated with increased sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and sucrose synthase (SS) activities, suggesting a potential link between mulching-induced improvements in plant physiological status and sucrose metabolism. These findings suggest that the combined use of intra-row fabric and inter-row grass mulching (FG) provides a sustainable strategy for enhancing soil conditions and fruit quality in water-limited kiwifruit orchards.