Winter crop rotation intensification to increase rice yield, soil carbon, and microbial diversity

Crop rotation has widely contributed to increasing farmland biodiversity as well as to improving soil carbon pools and microbial diversity. However, there is a weak understanding of the suitability of winter crop rotation intensification in double rice fields, especially rotation with various winter crops. For this task, a long-term field experiment based on one from 2012 was conducted with five winter crop systems for double rice: winter fallow (T0), winter milk vetch (T1), winter rape (T2), winter garlic (T3), winter rotation intensification with potato, milk vetch, and rape (T4). Parameters such as crop yield, soil carbon, nitrogen, and soil microorganism were measured. It was found that compared to winter fallow, winter milk vetch, rape, garlic, and crop rotation intensification practices increased the late rice yield by 2.5%, 2.3%, 4.5%, and 3.7%, respectively; winter garlic and crop rotation intensification also increased the early rice yield by 4.6% and 3.5%, respectively. This is associated with the promotion of rice tillering. At the same time, for winter crop rotation, compared to winter fallow, the soil organic carbon increased by 21%. With the input of diversified crop residues, winter crops were effective in soil carbon sequestration, improving soil microbial structure, and increasing soil microbial diversity. The Shannon diversity index of winter crops ranged from 9.75 to 9.91, while winter fallow was 9.38. The Simpson’s diversity index of winter crops ranged from 0.997 to 0.998, while winter fallow was 0.996. In conclusion, winter crop practices, especially winter crop rotation intensification, can enhance soil health and sustainability in double rice fields through its positive feedback on crop yield, soil carbon sequestration, and microorganisms.