Liming (L) is a common practice to mitigate soil acidification and enhance soil quality and crop productivity. However, in acidic soil, it is not clear how long-term application of lime and nitrogen (N)-based fertilizer affects soil chemical properties, the wheat and maize grain yields (GY), and N-use efficiency (NUE). Thus, to investigate the effects of N-based fertilizations without L (−L) and with L (+L) on wheat and maize GY and NUE through their effects on soil chemical properties, we analyzed a 28-year field experiment in acidic soil under a wheat-maize system in South China. The analysis was carried out between 1991 and 2010 (before L) and between 2011 and 2018 (after L). We categorized the treatments into (1) no fertilizer (C); nitrogen (N); N and phosphorus (NP); N and potassium (NK); N, P and K (NPK); and NPKC_R, NPK and crops residue (C_R) applications (NPKC_R), before L; and (2) C; N−L; N+L; NP−L; NP+L; NK−L; NK+L; NPK−L; NPK+L; NPKC_R−L and NPKC_R+L, after L. The effects of long-term fertilization resulted in lower soil pH by 15%, soil available K (AK) by 19%, P_Olsen by 6%, NO₃⁻-N by 15%, soil organic matter (SOM) by 16%, total N by 16%, and C:N ratio by 13% in −L soil than in +L soil. However, the accumulation of NH₄⁺-N was higher by 40% in −L soil than in +L soil. Wheat and maize GY, N recovery efficiency (RE_N), and N partial factor productivity (PEP_N) were more adversely affected by 8-year fertilizations in −L compared with fertilizations before L and in +L primarily because of the significantly decreased soil pH. Conversely, improvements in wheat and maize yields, RE_N, and PFP_N by 8-year fertilizations in +L were related to increasing soil pH, exchangeable base cations such as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and the alleviated toxicity of Al³⁺. Overall, improvement of GY and NUE from the acidified soil in South China requires the long-term integrated use of fertilizer (NPK), retention of C_R, and the +L (i.e., NPKC_R+L).

A long-term experiment (38 years) was conducted to elucidate the effects of long-term N addition on the net N mineralization in both paddy and upland soils, based on their initial soil N status, with and in connection with soil microbial biomass and N cycling extracellular enzyme activities. Two treatments without N addition CK (No fertilizer) and K (inorganic potassium fertilizer) and two treatments with N addition (inorganic nitrogen fertilizer) and NK (inorganic nitrogen and potassium fertilizer) were placed in incubation for 90 days. Results showed that the total N and soil organic carbon (SOC) contents were higher in the treatments with N application compared to the treatments without N in both paddy and upland soils. The SOC content of paddy soil was increased relative to upland soil by 56.2%, 45.7%, 61.1% and 62.2% without N (CK, K) and with N (N and NK) treatments, respectively. Site-wise, total N concentration in paddy soil was higher by 0.06, 0.10, 0.57 and 0.60 times under the CK, K, N and NK treatments, respectively, compared with upland soil. In paddy soil, soil microbial biomass nitrogen (SMBN) was higher by 39.6%, 2.77%, 29.5% and 31.4%, and microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) was higher by 11.8%, 11.9%, 10.1% and 12.3%, respectively, in CK, K, N and NK treatment, compared with upland soil. Overall, compared to upland soil, the activities of leucine-aminopeptidase (LAP) were increased by 31%, 18%, 20% and 11%, and those of N-acetyl-b-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) were increased by 70%, 21%, 13% and 18% by CK, K, N and NK treatments, respectively, in paddy soil. A significantly linear increase was found in the NO₃⁻-N and NH₄⁺-N concentrations during the 90 days of the incubation period in both soils. NK treatment showed the highest N mineralization potential (N_o) along with mineralization rate constant, k (NMR) at the end of the incubation. SMBC, SMBN, enzyme activities, NO₃⁻-N and NH₄⁺-N concentrations and the N_o showed a highly significant (p ≤ 0.05) positive correlation. We concluded that long-term N addition accelerated the net mineralization by increasing soil microbial activities under both soils.

Cultivation of green manure (GM) crops in intensive cropping systems is important for enhancing crop productivity through soil quality improvement. We investigated yield sustainability, nutrient stocks, nutrient balances and enzyme activities affected by different long-term (1982–2016) green manure rotations in acidic paddy soil in a double-rice cropping system. We selected four treatments from a long-term experiment, including (1) rice-rice-winter fallow as a control treatment (R-R-F), (2) rice-rice-milkvetch (R-R-M), (3) rice-rice-rapeseed (R-R-R), and (4) rice-rice-ryegrass (R-R-G). The results showed that different GM rotations increased grain yield and the sustainable yield index compared with those of the R-R-F treatment. Compared with those of R-R-F, the average grain yield of early rice in R-R-M, R-R-R, and R-R-G increased by 45%, 29%, and 27%, respectively and that of late rice increased by 46%, 28%, and 26%, respectively. Over the years, grain yield increased in all treatments except R-R-F. Green manure also improved the soil chemical properties (SOM and total and available N and P), except soil pH, compared to those of the control treatment. During the 1983–1990 cultivation period, the soil pH of the R-R-M treatment was lower than that of the R-R-F treatment. The addition of green manure did not mitigate the soil acidification caused by the use of inorganic fertilizers. The soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) contents and stocks of C, N and P increased over the years. Furthermore, GM significantly increased phosphatase and urease activities and decreased the apparent N and P balances compared with those in the winter fallow treatment. Variance partitioning analysis revealed that soil properties, cropping systems, and climatic factors significantly influenced annual grain yield. Aggregated boosted tree (ABT) analysis quantified the relative influences of the different soil properties on annual grain yield and showed that the relative influences of TN content, SOM, pH, and TP content on annual crop yield were 27.8%, 25.7%, 22.9%, and 20.7%, respectively. In conclusion, GM rotation is beneficial for sustaining high crop yields by improving soil biochemical properties and reducing N and P balances in acidic soil under double- rice cropping systems.

Elevated mineral fertilization may change the composition and increase the availability of soil phosphorus (P) in subtropical paddy soils and thus affect long-term plant growth. However, an understanding of the response of soil P fractions to long-term nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) additions remains elusive. This study aimed to explore the responses of soil P-fractions and their mobility to different long-term chemical fertilization rates under a double rice cropping system. The rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in the low NPK treatment (LNPK) were 90, 45, and 75 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively, and in the high NPK treatment (HNPK), they were 180, 90, and 150 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. The results showed that the concentrations of soil organic matter (SOM), total P, Olsen P, total N, and mineral N were remarkably increased under HNPK by 17.46%, 162.66%, 721.16%, 104.42%, and 414.46%, respectively, compared with those under control (CT). Compared to the CT P fractions, HNPK increased the labile P fractions (i.e., NaHCO₃-Pi and NaHCO₃-Po) by 322.25% and 83.53% and the moderately labile P fractions (i.e., NaOH-Pi, NaOH-Po and HCl. dil. Pi) by 163.54%, 183.78%, and 3167.25% respectively, while the non-labile P was decreased by the HNPK addition. P uptake and grain yield were increased by LNPK and HNPK by 10.02% and 35.20%, respectively, compared with CT. P use efficiency indices were also higher under HNPK than under LNPK. There was a strong positive relationship between grain yield and P use efficiency (R² = 0.97). A redundancy analysis (RDA) showed a strong correlation between soil chemical properties and the labile and moderately labile P pools. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that SOM, mineral N, and available P strongly control the labile P pool. In conclusion, NPK additions under the paddy soils significantly influences the soil P fractions. The soil P dynamics and the mechanisms governing the interactions between plants and soil nutrients are clearly explained in this study.

The determination of organic nitrogen (N) mineralization is crucial for estimating N availability, quantifying exogenous inputs, and estimating associated environmental impacts. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of long-term various fertilization on soil organic N mineralization potential (NMP), which influences plant N accessibility. Treatments from a 26-year long-term field experiment with no fertilization (CK), chemical fertilizer N at 165 kg N ha⁻¹ and P at 82.5 kg P₂O₅ ha⁻¹ (NP), NP with K fertilizer at 165, 82.5, 82.5 kg ha⁻¹ N, P₂O₅ and K₂O (NPK), NPK at 165, 82.5, 82.5 kg ha⁻¹ N, P₂O₅ and K₂O with manure at 7857.14 kg ha⁻¹ (NPKM), and NPKM at 165, 82.5, 82.5 kg ha⁻¹ N, P₂O₅ and K₂O with manure at 1.5× application rate (11,785.71 kg ha⁻¹) (1.5NPKM) were examined for potentially mineralizable N by aerobic incubation at 35 °C for 30 weeks. Three pools (Pools I, II, and III) of mineralizable N were recognized. Pool I, the mineralization flush on rewetting in the first 2 weeks; Pool II, gross N mineralization between weeks 2 and 30; and Pool III, the potentially mineralizable N, predicted from the fitted curve, that did not mineralize during the incubation period. Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) and N (SMBN) as well as fixed ammonium (NH₄⁺) contents and relationship with N mineralization rate (k) were also studied. Long-term manure application yielded a significantly higher k (0.32 week⁻¹) than other treatments (0.12–0.22 week⁻¹) but not a significantly higher NMP. Nitrogen mineralization during the wheat and maize-growing seasons was predicted to be 8.7–26.3 (mg N kg⁻¹ soil) and 25.9–42.1 (mg N kg⁻¹ soil), respectively. Both labile mineralizable N pools (Pools I and II) followed the same patterns in the treatments: 1.5NPKM > NPKM > NPK > NP > CK, while the reverse was true for stable N (Pool III). The significant positive correlation between k with SMBC and SMBN (R² = 0.93, p = 0.008 and R² = 0.94, p = 0.006) suggested that the higher mineralization rate might be contributed by the higher soil microbial biomass in NPKM. The trends of fixed NH₄⁺ and mineralized N were coupled. Long-term manure application significantly improved the N mineralization rate in soil. Manure application is an effective strategy to enhance soil microbial biomass and soil N availability and has the potential to reduce the dependence upon chemical N fertilization.