The combined application of synthetic fertiliser and organic materials has been shown to enhance plant yield and soil organic carbon stocks. However, organic amendments might increase extra greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by altering soil environments and nutrients. The inputs of straw and biochar significantly increased the net ecosystem C budget and therefore decreased the net global warming potential and GHG intensity in the successive tobacco cultivation system. Our results are helpful in comprehensively evaluating both agricultural productivity and climatic impacts.

High country farmland of New Zealand’s South Island has generally been well fertilised in the past, but soil acidity limits phosphorus (P) availability and pasture production. In this study of 19 soils, soils were found to contain large quantities of moderately-labile P that has the potential to become plant available following lime application. Understanding the effect soil acidity has on P availability, and the fate of applied fertiliser P, is important for designing sustainable and effective fertiliser and lime input strategies.

Drying–rewetting cycles in a paddy soil along with application of rice straw or Azolla compost effectively changes different forms of soil phosphorus (P). This is an important issue for rice cultivation with different irrigation regimes. The best soil management in terms of P supply and under such conditions can be achieved by regulating soil drying–rewetting cycles along with appropriate use of organic amendments.

Soil tillage systems and wheeling intensity affect soil structure functioning. Intense traffic may reduce soil air capacity, water transmission properties, and consequently crop production. Negative impacts to the soil can be assessed by soil quality indicators. Farm machinery traffic applying stresses above the soil load bearing capacity promotes changes in pore structure in deeper soil layers, diminishing voids and increasing bulk density, and thus potentially reducing permeability and root growth.

Polyacrylamide hydrogel is extensively accepted as water retention protocol in agricultural field, but its efficiency is not fully understood under different field conditions. Therefore, this study was to determine how the water-holding capacity of polyacrylamide would be affected by different environmental conditions using an originally designed laboratory-scaled column apparatus. The discoveries in this study could provide guidance on how polyacrylamide can be more effectively applied in future agricultural practices.

The study of infiltration is important for regulating the runoff of rainwater, conserving soil and water, and evaluating the management of water resources and farmland irrigation technology. This study proposed an algebraic model of the equation for the one-dimensional horizontal absorption of water in unsaturated soil for the initial conditions of an arbitrary soil water content distribution and constant saturated boundary conditions. The method also provides a new direction for solving the nonuniform initial soil water content.