Effects of Rice Straw Application and Green Manuring on Selected Soil Physical Properties and Microbial Biomass Carbon in No-Till Paddy Field

Applications of plant residues and green manures generally improve the properties of soil under conventional farming system. Therefore, we investigated the improvement of selected soil physical properties, bulk density, porosity, and water content, soil penetration resistance, and soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) content as affected by different management practices: 1) conventional tillage without rice straw or green manure crop treatment (TNT, check plot), 2) no-tillage amended with rice straw (NTRS), 3) no-tillage amended with rye (NTR), 4) no-tillage amended with Chinese milk vetch (NTCMV), 5) no-tillage without rice straw or green manure crop treatment (NTNT), The values of bulk density, porosity, and water content ranged from 1.22 to 1.37 Mg ㎥, from 48.3 to 54.0%, and from 35.0 to 40.2%, respectively. The management practices might positively influence the changes in the selected soil properties, especially in the second experimental year. The soil penetration resistance and SMBC content were also improved after applying rice straw and green manure crops as comparing with TNT. Therefore, applications of the rice straw and green manure crop management practices under no-tillage system positively influenced soil physical properties and soil microbial activities in paddy field.