Tang et al. (2026) Distinct pathways of straw management practices regulate soil water, salinity, fertility and barley productivity in coastal saline soil

Identification

• Journal: Frontiers in Plant Science
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-14
• Authors: Min Tang, zhen lin, Yu Liu, Chao Zhang, Zhijun Jia, Ziang Xie, Huailiang Wang, Lei Xie
• DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1969372

Research Groups

• College of Hydraulic Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
• Hebei Water Resources Research and Water Conservancy Technology Experimental Promotion Center (Hebei Irrigation Center Experimental Station), Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

Short Summary

This study investigates the effects of different straw management practices on soil water, salinity, fertility, and barley productivity in coastal saline soils. The results show that surface straw mulching is the most effective strategy for improving soil water conservation, salt regulation, and barley productivity.

Objective

• Investigate the effects of straw management practices on soil physicochemical properties and crop performance in coastal saline soils.
• Compare the agronomic effectiveness of surface mulching, straw incorporation, and biochar incorporation under the same field and crop-management conditions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Field-scale experiment with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grown in containers filled with coastal saline soil.
• Temporal Scale: Two-year experiment conducted during the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among soil properties, biomass accumulation, yield components, and barley grain yield.
• Data sources: Soil moisture content, electrical conductivity, available N, available P, available K, and SOM were measured using standard analytical procedures.

Main Results

• Surface straw mulching (SM) showed the strongest capacity for regulating soil water and salt dynamics, increasing soil moisture content by 84.9% compared with CT at the heading stage in 2024.
• SM produced the highest grain yield in both years, reaching 6581.95 and 7532.59 kg·ha^-1 in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
• Biochar incorporation (BC) showed the greatest potential for improving soil fertility, increasing soil organic matter by more than 33% and enhancing available potassium by 11–26% relative to other treatments in 2023.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying crop responses to alternative straw management practices.
• The findings highlight the importance of matching straw management strategies with specific soil constraints to enhance crop production in coastal saline agroecosystems.

Funding

• This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52109241) and the Hebei Provincial Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2021033B01).

Citation

@article{Tang2026Distinct,
  author = {Tang, Min and lin, zhen and Liu, Yu and Zhang, Chao and Jia, Zhijun and Xie, Ziang and Wang, Huailiang and Xie, Lei},
  title = {Distinct pathways of straw management practices regulate soil water, salinity, fertility and barley productivity in coastal saline soil},
  journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3389/fpls.2026.1969372},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1969372}
}