ABSTRACT
Organic amendments to improve soil health and crop productivity: a case study in China Minggang Xu, Wenju Zhang and Zejiang Cai, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China; Shaoming Huang, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China; and Ping Zhu, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
1 Introduction
2 Long-term experiments in fertilization management
3 The impact of different fertilization techniques: soil health
4 The impact of different fertilization techniques: crop yield
5 Future trends and conclusion
6 Acknowledgements
7 References
Improving soil fertility and increasing crop productivity are two important challenges for the large and increasing population of China. The concepts of sustainable agricultural production emphasize the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC) management, which determines a wide range of soil physical, chemical and biological properties (Reeves, 1997). Enhancing SOC storage in croplands not only benefits soil fertility and agricultural productivity, but also is a means of carbon sequestration, and has been put forward as a solution for mitigating climate change and maintaining soil health.
