Salt accumulation under long-term commercial organic fertilization reduces crop yield in a Vertisol: Evidence from a 9-year tillage and fertilization

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2026.01.037

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Yuekai Wang^1,^4*, Yue Zhang¹^*, Zichun Guo², Zhongbin Zhang³, Xun Xiao², Tianyu Ding², Ping Zhang⁴, Haishui Yang¹, Fengmin Li¹, Xinhua Peng^3#

¹College of Agronomy, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China

²State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture/Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

³State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China/Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

⁴Longkang Farm, Anhui Agricultural Reclamation Group Co., Ltd., Huaiyuan 233426, China

Highlights

· Tillage and fertilization have an interactive effect on soil physicochemical properties.

· Commercial organic fertilization decreased soil compaction and increased soil fertility but introduced a large amount of salt ions.

· Wheat yield was limited by the increased EC_1:1, and maize was more responsive to increased TN.

· Keep r_b<1.50 g cm^-3, SOC>10 g kg^-1, EC<1.5 dS m^-1 can sustain a good soil quality by the established LLWR model.

Abstract
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摘要

土壤结构差和土壤肥力低是限制砂姜黑土作物产量的主要因素。尽管深耕和施用有机肥是潜在的改良策略，但它们的交互作用尚未得到充分研究。商业有机肥中的高盐分可能会对土壤结构和作物生长产生负面影响。本研究旨在（1）评估深耕与施用商业有机肥相结合是否能更有效地改善土壤结构和肥力；（2）量化影响作物产量的主要因素及其贡献。本研究在砂姜黑中进行了一项为期9年的田间试验，试验区实行小麦-玉米轮作，设置耕作与培肥交互处理：旋耕（RT）和深翻（DP）×单施化肥（NPK）、有机肥（OM）和化肥与50%有机肥配施（NPKOM）。测定土壤理化性质、盐离子含量，并通过最小限制水分范围（LLWR）量化了土壤物理质量。研究结果表明，与NPK处理相比，OM和NPKOM处理显著降低了10-30cm土层的土壤容重（r_b），提高了饱和导水率（K_s），增加土壤有机碳（SOC）和土壤养分含量，并扩大了LLWR。与DP相结合时，土壤结构更疏松，养分更丰富，尤其是在较深的土层。然而，长期施用商业有机肥引入了大量盐离子（Na⁺、K⁺、Cl^-、SO₄^2-），导致土壤电导率（EC_1:1）显著增加，团聚体稳定性降低。在生长季内，土壤孔隙溶液中电导率甚至超过了作物的耐受阈值。EC₁_:₁被认为是限制小麦产量的主要因素。随着施肥年限的延长，小麦产量下降幅度加剧，进一步证实了有机肥施用下盐胁迫的负面影响。玉米季降水量较高，能使盐分渗入更深土层，且玉米对养分的需求更大，因此玉米产量因氮含量增加而得到提升。DP通过将表层盐分混入深层土壤，缓解了土壤盐分胁迫，较RT减少了产量损失。我们的研究结果表明，长期施用商品有机肥导致盐分积累，对砂姜黑土区的作物生长产生了不利影响。尽管深耕缓解了盐分胁迫，但无法完全抵消盐分积累造成的产量下降。未来需要在更多类型的土壤、有机肥源和施肥梯度上开展进一步研究，以阐明商品有机肥施用的广泛影响。

Abstract

Poor soil structure and low soil fertility are the main factors limiting crop yield in Vertisol. Although deep tillage and organic fertilization are potential amelioration strategies, their interactive effects remain insufficiently explored. The high salinity in commercial organic fertilizer may negatively affect soil structure and crop growth. The objectives were to: (1) evaluate whether the combination of deep tillage and commercial organic fertilization could more effectively enhance soil structure and fertility; (2) quantify the primary factors and their contributions to crop yield. A 9-year experiment was conducted under a wheat–maize rotation system in a Vertisol, involving two tillage practices—rotary tillage (RT) and deep ploughing (DP)—and three fertilization treatments: mineral fertilizer (NPK), 100% organic fertilizer (OM), and a combination of mineral with 50% organic fertilizer (NPKOM). Soil physicochemical properties were determined, and soil physical quality was quantified by the least limiting water range (LLWR). Our results showed that, compared to NPK, OM and NPKOM treatment decreased soil bulk density (r_b), increased saturated water conductivity (K_s), enlarged LLWR, and enhanced SOC and soil nutrient contents in the 10-30cm layer. When combined with DP, soils became more porous and nutrient-rich, particularly in deeper soil layers. However, long-term commercial organic fertilization introduced substantial amounts of salt ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Cl^-, SO₄^2-), leading to significantly increased soil EC_1:1 and decreased aggregate stability (MWD). The EC in the soil pore solution even exceeded the crop tolerance thresholds during the growth season. Among several soil indicators, EC_1:1 is represented as the primary factor limiting wheat yield. While maize yield was promoted by the increased TN due to the greater nutrient requirement and salt leaching into deeper layers under higher precipitation. The intensified reduction in wheat yield with the prolonged fertilization duration further confirmed the increased negative effect of salt stress under organic fertilization. By incorporating surface salts into deeper soil layers, DP mitigated soil salt stress and reduced yield losses than RT. Our results demonstrated that the long-term application of commercial organic fertilizers led to salt accumulation that adversely affects crop yields in Vertisols. Although deep tillage mitigated the salt stress, it cannot fully offset the yield reduction caused by salt accumulation. Further studies across a wider variety of soil types, organic fertilizer sources, and fertilization gradients are needed to elucidate the wide-ranging effects of commercial organic fertilization.

Keywords: soil quality organic fertilizer soil structure EC crop yield

Online: 29 January 2026

Fund:

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFD190020401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42507399), the Fellowship from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2024M75143 and GZC20240724), the Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent, China (2024ZB058), and the Anhui Postdoctoral Scientific Research Program Foundation, China (2024A756).

About author: *Yuekai Wang, E-mail:ykwang@njau.edu.cn; Yue Zhang, E-mail:1256822456@qq.com; These two authosr contributed equally to this work. #Correspondence Xinhua Peng, E-mail: pengxinhua@caas.cn

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Yuekai Wang, Yue Zhang, Zichun Guo, Zhongbin Zhang, Xun Xiao, Tianyu Ding, Ping Zhang, Haishui Yang, Fengmin Li, Xinhua Peng. 2026. Salt accumulation under long-term commercial organic fertilization reduces crop yield in a Vertisol: Evidence from a 9-year tillage and fertilization. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, Doi:10.1016/j.jia.2026.01.037

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