Effect of Soil Organic Mulching Combined with Aeration Treatment on Soil Quality, Nutrients Content, and Lei Bamboo Shoot Production

Abstract

Lei bamboo cultivation is an important economic activity in the Zhejiang province of China. However, extensive management practices such as organic mulching aimed at optimizing Lei bamboo production usually have a long-term negative impact on soil pH. Thus, it is important for novel management practices that consider not only bamboo production but also soil quality to be developed. In this study, we evaluated the effect of four conditions: organic mulching combined with aeration (MA), organic mulching and no aeration (MNA), aeration and no mulching (NMA), and control treatment (CK) on soil quality parameters and Lei bamboo shoot production. The Lei bamboo stands have been receiving similar treatments for 3–4 years, but for this study, organic mulch materials (rice husks, stalks, bamboo leaves, non-living plant biomass materials and plants biochar) were reapplied in October 2021 and soil sampling was done in April 2022. Our results showed that the average oxygen content at a sampling depth of 10 cm in CK, MA, and NMA was 21.6%, 21.7%, and 20.7%, respectively. However, when mulching was applied without aeration (MNA), soil oxygen content and pH were decreased by 6.3% and 0.7 units compared to CK. Moreover, for this treatment soil pH was as low as 4.28 at a depth of 30 cm. Nevertheless, when mulching was applied together with aeration (MA), all soil quality parameters, including the contents of organic matter and nitrogen were significantly increased (p < 0.05). For MA, soil pH was generally > 5.0 even at a depth of 30 cm. For all the treatment plots, the number of bamboo shoots that were produced after one month of treatment followed the sequence MA (591.0) > MNA (554.3) > NMA (305.7) > CK (53.3). Even though NMA and MNA treatments both improved bamboo growth by providing the required nutrients, we recommend the combined application of mulching and aeration (MA) for long-term Lei bamboo plantation management since the combination has the potential to improve nutrient supply and bamboo growth while retarding soil acidification.