Combination of artificial zeolite and microbial fertilizer to improve mining soils in an arid area of Inner Mongolia,China

Restoration of mining soils is important to the vegetation and environment.This study aimed to explore the variations in soil nutrient contents,microbial abundance,and biomass under different gradients of substrate amendments in mining soils to select effective measures.Soil samples were collected from the Bayan Obo mining region in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,China.Contents of soil organic matter(SOM),available nitrogen(AN),available phosphorus(AP),available potassium(AK),microbial biomass carbon/microbial biomass nitrogen(MBC/MBN)ratio,biomass,and bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes abundance were assessed in Agropyron cristatum L.Gaertn.,Elymus dahuricus Turcz.,and Medicago sativa L.soils with artificial zeolite(AZ)and microbial fertilizer(MF)applied at T0(0 g/kg),T1(5 g/kg),T2(10 g/kg),and T3(20 g/kg).Redundancy analysis(RDA)and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution(TOPSIS)were used to identify the main factors controlling the variation of biomass.Results showed that chemical indices and microbial content of restored soils were far greater than those of control.The application of AZ significantly increases SOM,AN,and AP by 20.27%,23.61%,and 40.43%,respectively.AZ significantly increased bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes abundance by 0.63,3.12,and 1.93 times of control,respectively.RDA indicated that AN,MBC/MBN ratio,and SOM were dominant predictors for biomass across samples with AZ application,explaining 87.6%of the biomass variance.SOM,MBC/MBN ratio,and AK were dominant predictors with MF application,explaining 82.9%of the biomass variance.TOPSIS indicated that T2 was the best dosage and the three plant species could all be used to repair mining soils.AZ and MF application at T2 concentration in the mining soils with M.sativa was found to be the most appropriate measure.

Development of Customized Production Machine for Flue-cured Tobacco Formula Nutritional Soil

On the basis of full investigation and repeated trials,nutritional soil composed of cake fertilizer,mushroom residue,cow dung and calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer was determined as an alternative for traditional flue-cured tobacco fired ash soil.In accordance with the feed grinding,mixing and processing integrated principle,processing machine for flue-cured tobacco nutritional soil was developed.The clogging problem of mixing box was solved by improving grinding and stirring method of mixing system.Mechanized and large-scale production and commercialized supply of flue-cured tobacco nutritional soil was piloted to simplify the production process and reduce the production cost of nutritional soil for flue-cured tobacco and meet the needs of green development of tobacco production,thereby creating good social and economic benefits.

Soil Nutrient Status and Leaf Nutrient Diagnosis in the Main Apple Producing Regions in China

Soil and leaf nutrient analysis are widely used as effective methods of diagnosing nutrient deficiency in fruit trees,the results of which are used to properly manage fertilizer application.Therefore,a survey was conducted for assessment of the soil nutrient status and leaf nutrient concentration in 2 827 apple orchards in the Bohai Bay and Loess Plateau apple production regions of China.The soil organic matter,alkali hydrolyzable N,available P,and available K were 10.91 g·kg^(-1),73.21 mg·kg^(-1),70.22 mg·kg^(-1),and 169.23 mg·kg^(-1)in the Bohai Bay region,respectively,and 11.72 g·kg^(-1),56.46 mg·kg^(-1),14.91 mg·kg^(-1),and 135.78 mg·kg^(-1)in the Loess Plateau region,respectively.Soil organic matter was at a medium-to-low level in both regions,whereas the soil alkali hydrolyzable N was low.In the Bohai Bay region,soil available P was high,but soil available K was deficient.In contrast,both soil available P and K were insufficient in the Loess Plateau region.The Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System(DRIS)diagnostic results indicated that the most deficient elements were Ca and K in low-yielding orchards(<35 t·hm(-2))of the Bohai Bay region followed by Fe,N,and Zn;however in the Loess Plateau region,the most deficient elements were P and K followed by N,Zn,and Cu.The findings imply that the application of Ca,K,Fe,N,and Zn fertilizer should be increased in the Bohai Bay region,whereas P,K,N,Zn,and Cu fertilizer should be enhanced in the Loess Plateau region.Meanwhile,use of organic manure is recommended to improve soil quality in the two apple producing regions.