The effects of plastic mulching and different fertilization on soil nutrients, yield and soil microbiome in maize field

In the current study, the control without fertilizer (C), the term mineral fertilizer (H), the term mineral fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer (O) and the term mineral fertilizer combined with biochar (B) under mulching and no mulching were used to explore their effects on maize fields. Compared with the control under mulching, the term mineral fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer under mulching could effectively maintain higher nitrate–N contents in rhizosphere soil at big trumpet stage and full ripe stage. The term mineral fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer under mulching could also significantly increase various soil properties and microbial abundance both in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil. In terms of yields, the term mineral fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer under mulching effectively increased maize yield by 7.00–57.41% when compared with other treatments. Our initial characterization indicated that the combination of the term mineral fertilizer and organic fertilizer is highly beneficial in enhancing the yields and diversity of rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere microbial communities in maize fields.