According to the specific conditions of the region, we sought to determine appropriate soil materials for improving soil conditions after the reclamation of hollow villages into cultivated land and for quickly restoring agricultural production.
Materials and methods
The test plot consisted of seven treatments with an area of 5 m?×?6 m (30 m2) each, and each treatment included three replicates. The plot was filled with raw soil (old wall soil) from an abandoned homestead in Yuzihe Village, Yaotou Town, Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province, China. The test design was completely randomised with seven treatments: fly ash (T1), organic fertiliser (chicken manure) (T2), improver (ferrous sulphate) (T3), fly ash?+?organic fertiliser (T4), improver?+?organic fertiliser (T5), fly ash?+?improver (T6) and no fertilisation measures (T0). The modified materials were mixed evenly with raw soil then applied to a depth of 0–30 cm onto the test plot.
Results and discussion
After adding the various modified materials, the soil bulk density decreased by 6.52–14.49% and total soil porosity, capillary porosity and non-capillary porosity increased by 7.09–15.75%, 3.14–12.67% and 15.57–38.47%, respectively. The soil permeability coefficient increased by 5.75–10.75×. Organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium in reclaimed hollow village soil increased by 12.50–66.44%, 15.15–20.00%, 6.58–64.62% and 18.24–26.82%, respectively, relative to that of T0. Only T4, T2, T6 and T5 significantly increased maize yield and water use efficiency compared with T0. The other treatments did not significantly improve maize yield or water use efficiency.
Conclusions
Organic fertiliser and fly ash composite was an appropriate amendment for improving reclaimed soil in a hollow village in a loess hilly gully region.
Soft rock efficiently retains water because it is hard when dry but expands rapidly when wet, thus it can be used as a natural water retention agent. Therefore, soft rock can be blended with sandy soil to enhance the water-holding capacity of sandy land. Understanding how soft rock content in sandy soil affects corn growth (Zea mays L.) is essential for enhancing local agricultural production in the Mu Us Desert. The Root Zone Water Quality Model 2 was calibrated and validated based on 2-years of experimental data for composite soils prepared at three ratios of soft rock to sand (1:1, 1:2, and 1:5 v/v), and then used to estimate the water non-limiting potential yield (Yp) and the potential yield of a rainfed crop [Yp(r)], along with yield gap [YG(r)] of corn using the weather data from 1990 to 2013 in the Mu Us Desert. The mean simulated Yp(r) of corn in the compound soil at a ratio of 1:2 was significantly higher than that of the compound soil at 1:1 and 1:5 ratios, respectively. The mean simulated Yp(r)s of corn were 2.551, 3.527, and 2.924?Mg ha?1 and the YG(r)s were 6.071, 5.096, and 5.698?Mg ha?1 for 1:1, 1:2, and 1:5 ratios, respectively. The crop yield depends on the amount of soft rock added to the sandy soils. 相似文献