Soil carbon sequestration under long-term rice-based cropping systems of purple soil in Southwest China

Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils is a complex process controlled by farming practices, climate and some other environment factors. Since purple soils are unique in China and used as the main cropland in Sichuan Basin of China, it is of great importance to study and understand the impacts of different fertilizer amendments on soil organic carbon（SOC） changes with time. A research was carried out to investigate the relationship between soil carbon sequestration and organic carbon input as affected by different fertilizer treatments at two long-term rice-based cropping system experiments set up in early 1980 s. Each experiment consisted of six identical treatments, including（1） no fertilizer（CK）,（2） nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers（NP）,（3） nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers（NPK）,（4） fresh pig manure（M）,（5） nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers plus manure（MNP）, and（6） nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers plus manure（MNPK）. The results showed that annual harvestable carbon biomass was the highest in the treatment of MNPK, followed by MNP and NPK, then M and NP, and the lowest in CK. Most of fertilizer treatments resulted in a significant gain in SOC ranging from 6.48 to 2 9.13% compared with the CK, and raised soil carbon sequestration rate to 0.10–0.53 t ha–1 yr-1. Especially, addition of manure on the basis of mineral fertilizers was very conducive to SOC maintenance in this soil. SOC content and soil carbon sequestration rate under balanced fertilizer treatments（NPK and MNPK） in the calcareous purple soil（Suining） were higher than that in the acid purple soil（Leshan）. But carbon conversion rate at Leshan was 11.00%, almost 1.5 times of that（7.80%） at Suining. Significant linear correlations between soil carbon sequestration and carbon input were observed at both sites, signifying that the purple soil was not carbon-saturated and still had considerable potential to se questrate more carbon.

Soil phosphorus dynamic, balance and critical P values in longterm fertilization experiment in Taihu Lake region, China

Phosphorus（P） is an important macronutrient for plant but can also cause potential environmental risk. In this paper, we studied the long-term fertilizer experiment（started 1980） to assess the soil P dynamic, balance, critical P value and the crop yield response in Taihu Lake region, China. To avoid the effect of nitrogen（N） and potassium（K）, only the following treatments were chosen for subsequent discussion, including： C0（control treatment without any fertilizer or organic manure）, CNK treatment（mineral N and K only）, CNPK（balanced fertilization with mineral N, P and K）, MNK（integrated organic manure and mineral N and K）, and MNPK（organic manure plus balanced fertilization）. The results revealed that the response of wheat yield was more sensitive than rice, and no significant differences of crop yield had been detected among MNK, CNPK and MNPK until 2013. Dynamic and balance of soil total P（TP） and Olsen-P showed soil TP pool was enlarged significantly over consistent fertilization. However, the diminishing marginal utility of soil Olsen-P was also found, indicating that high-level P application in the present condition could not increase soil Olsen-P contents anymore. Linear-linear and Mitscherlich models were used to estimate the critical value of Olsen-P for crops. The average critical P value for rice and wheat was 3.40 and 4.08 mg kg^（–1）, respectively. The smaller critical P value than in uplands indicated a stronger ability of P supply for crops in this paddy soil. We concluded that no more mineral P should be applied in rice-wheat system in Taihu Lake region if soil Olsen-P is higher than the critical P value. The agricultural technique and management referring to activate the plant-available P pool are also considerable, such as integrated use of low-P organic manure with mineral N and K.

Do Land Characteristics Affect Farmers' Soil Fertility Management?

Soil fertility management （SFM） has important implications for sustaining agricultural development and food self-sufifciency. Better understanding the determinants of farmers’ SFM can be a great help to the adoption of effective SFM practices. Based on a dataset of 315 plots collected from a typical rice growing area of South China, this study applied statistical method and econometric models to examine the impacts of land characteristics on farmers’ SFM practices at plot scale. Main results showed that in general land characteristics affected SFM behaviors. Securer land tenure arrangements facilitated effective practices of SFM through more diversiifed and more soil-friendly cropping pattern choices. Plot size signiifcantly reduced the intensities of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer application. Given other factors, 1 ha increase in plot size might reduce 3.0 kg ha-1 P2O5 and 1.8 kg ha-1 K2O. Plots far from the homestead were paid less attention in terms of both chemical fertilizers and manure applications. Besides, plots with better quality were put more efforts on management by applying more nitrogen and manure, and by planting green manure crops. Signiifcant differences existed in SFM practices between the surveyed villages with different socio-economic conditions. The ifndings are expected to provide important references to the policy-making incentive for improving soil quality and crop productivity.

Current Situation and Countermeasures of Utilization of Crop Straw as Feed in Sichuan Province

Utilizing straw as feed and applying cattle and sheep manure fertilizer to the field plays an important role in solving the shortage of feed raw material resources,alleviating the conflict between human beings and livestock,and realizing the full utilization of straw as a resource and green and low-carbon circular development.We carried out an investigation on the feed utilization of crop straw in Sichuan Province,comprehensively grasped the crop straw resources and its utilization as feed in this province,deeply analyzed the existing problems,and put forward countermeasures and suggestions according to the actual situation in Sichuan,which plays an important role in accelerating the process of straw feed utilization,promoting green development,implementing the rural revitalization strategy,and building a beautiful Sichuan.

Multiple cropping and soil fertility in sustainable production of paddy fields

Multiple cropping has been popularized on morethan two thirds of the total area of paddy fields inSouth China.It demands more nutrients due tohigher cropping index.Therefore,how to keepmoderately higher yields of multiple crops and to

Development of japonica Photo-Sensitive Genic Male Sterile Rice Lines by Editing Carbon Starved Anther Using CRISPR/Cas9

Rice is one of the most important crops as it supports over25%of total caloric intake for humans（Kusano et al.,2015）.The world population reached 7.3 billion in 2015 and is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030（Word Population Prospects：2015 Revision）.