Long‐Term Organic Matter Additions Increase Soil Health and Rice Yield in a Tropical Paddy Soil by Enhancing Carbon Transformation Functions

Thang Do Trong; Cornelia Rumpel; Tien Minh Tran; Pascal Jouquet; Alexis Thoumazeau; Trang Thi Thu Tran; Nicolas Bottinelli

doi:10.1111/sum.70198

journal article Apr 01, 2026

Long‐Term Organic Matter Additions Increase Soil Health and Rice Yield in a Tropical Paddy Soil by Enhancing Carbon Transformation Functions

Thang Do Trong Cornelia Rumpel Tien Minh Tran Pascal Jouquet Alexis Thoumazeau Trang Thi Thu Tran Nicolas Bottinelli

Soil Use and Management Vol. 42 No. 2 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1111/sum.70198

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Although the importance of organic matter management for sustainable rice production is well established in upland soils, its role in lowland paddy systems with gleyed soils remains less understood. To address this gap, we used a 24‐year field experiment in northern Vietnam to examine how organic matter inputs in rice–soybean rotations influenced soil health indicators and crop yield. Topsoil was collected from six treatments: no fertiliser, mineral fertiliser and mineral fertiliser plus cow manure, each with or without crop residue retention. Carbon transformation, nutrient cycling and soil structure maintenance were evaluated using Biofunctool, which integrates eight indicators into a soil health index. Soil macrofauna communities were also assessed. Labile organic carbon was the most sensitive indicator of carbon transformation, increasing more than threefold with organic matter additions compared to the unfertilised control. Organic matter additions also significantly improved macroporosity and water infiltration. The highest nitrate availability occurred under mineral fertilisation combined with residue retention. Overall, organic matter inputs increased the soil health index by 22%, exceeding the effect of mineral fertilisation alone, while residue retention increased the index by 8%. Rice yield increased from 1.8 to 3.4 t ha
−1
corresponding to gains of 67% under mineral fertilisation, 90% with manure addition and 10% with residue retention. In contrast, soil macrofauna communities were unaffected by management practices and showed few relationships with soil functions. Rice yield was positively related to the soil health index (
ρ
= 0.80), carbon transformation (
ρ
= 0.75) and structure maintenance (
ρ
= 0.68), whereas its relationship with nutrient cycling was not significant. Together, these results highlight the importance of long‐term organic matter inputs for soil health and rice productivity in gleyed paddy soils, with yield being most strongly associated with carbon transformation.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

52

[1]

Anderson J. M. (1993)

[2]

Basset C. "How Does Soil Structure Affect Water Infiltration? A Meta‐Data Systematic Review" Soil and Tillage Research (2023) 10.1016/j.still.2022.105577

[3]

Brar B. S. "Effects of Long Term Application of Inorganic and Organic Fertilizers on Soil Organic Carbon and Physical Properties in Maize‐Wheat Rotation" Agronomy (2015) 10.3390/agronomy5020220

[4]

Craswell E. T. "The Role and Function of Organic Matter in Tropical Soils" Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems (2001) 10.1023/a:1013656024633

[5]

Dang N. "Problems With and Local Solutions for Organic Matter Management in Vietnam" Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems (2001) 10.1023/a:1013388816328

[6]

Demetrio W. "Macrofauna Communities and Their Relationship With Soil Structural Quality in Different Land Use Systems" Soil Research (2022) 10.1071/sr21157

[7]

Theade4Package: Implementing the Duality Diagram for Ecologists

Stéphane Dray, Anne-Béatrice Dufour

Journal of Statistical Software 2007 10.18637/jss.v022.i04

[8]

Eghball B. "Residual Effects of Manure and Compost Applications on Corn Production and Soil Properties" Agronomy Journal (2004) 10.2134/agronj2004.4420

[9]

Herrick J. E. "Field Soil Aggregate Stability Kit for Soil Quality and Rangeland Health Evaluations" Catena (2001) 10.1016/s0341-8162(00)00173-9

[10]

IUSS Working Group WRB (2022)

[11]

Johnson J. F. "Estimating Source Carbon From Crop Residues, Roots and Rhizodeposits Using the National Grain‐Yield Database" Agronomy Journal (2006) 10.2134/agronj2005.0179

[12]

Kabato W. "Towards Climate‐Smart Agriculture: Strategies for Sustainable Agricultural Production, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Reduction" Agronomy (2025) 10.3390/agronomy15030565

[13]

Kay M. (2021)

[14]

Khorsandi N. "Effect of Amendment of Manure and Corn Residues on Soil N Mineralization and Enzyme Activity" Agronomy for Sustainable Development (2007) 10.1051/agro:2007001

[15]

Soil health in agricultural systems

M.G Kibblewhite, K Ritz, M.J Swift

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B:... 2008 10.1098/rstb.2007.2178

[16]

Kim Y. N. "Co‐Responses of Soil Organic Carbon Pool and Biogeochemistry to Different Long‐Term Fertilization Practices in Paddy Fields" Plants (2022) 10.3390/plants11233195

[17]

Ensuring planetary survival: the centrality of organic carbon in balancing the multifunctional nature of soils

Peter M. Kopittke, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Yolima Carrillo et al.

Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Tech... 2022 10.1080/10643389.2021.2024484

[18]

Kopittke P. M. "Healthy Soil for Healthy Humans and a Healthy Planet" Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (2024) 10.1080/10643389.2023.2228651

[19]

Korobushkin D. I. "Mechanisms of Soil Macrofauna Community Sustainability in Temperate Rice‐Growing Systems" Scientific Reports (2019) 10.1038/s41598-019-46733-4

[20]

Lal R. "Soils and Food Sufficiency. A Review" Agronomy for Sustainable Development (2009) 10.1051/agro:2008044

[21]

Lal R. "Restoring Soil Quality to Mitigate Soil Degradation" Sustainability (2015) 10.3390/su7055875

[22]

Lassabatère L. "Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer Parameters Through Infiltration Experiments—BEST" Soil Science Society of America Journal (2006) 10.2136/sssaj2005.0026

[23]

Soil invertebrates and ecosystem services

P. Lavelle, T. Decaëns, M. Aubert et al.

European Journal of Soil Biology 2006 10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006.10.002

[24]

Legland D. "MorphoLibJ: Integrated Library and Plugins for Mathematical Morphology With ImageJ" Bioinformatics (2016) 10.1093/bioinformatics/btw413

[25]

Linh T. B. "Socio‐Economicevaluation on How Crop Rotations on Clayey Soils Affect Rice Yield and Farmers' Income in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam" International Journal of Environmental Research and Development (2013)

[26]

Liu C. "Microbial Habitat Specificity Largely Affects Microbial Co‐Occurrence Patterns and Functional Profiles in Wetland Soils" Geoderma (2022) 10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115866

[27]

Mallory E. B. "Impacts of Soil Amendment History on Nitrogen Availability From Manure and Fertilizer" Soil Science Society of America Journal (2007) 10.2136/sssaj2006.0244

[28]

Mamabolo E. "Soil Macrofauna Are Important Bioindicators of Soil Quality in Agroecosystems Under Different Management" Ecological Indicators (2024) 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112723

[29]

Martens D. "Modification of Infiltration Rates in an Organic‐Amended Irrigated" Agronomy Journal (1992) 10.2134/agronj1992.00021962008400040032x

[30]

Meurer K. "A Framework for Modelling Soil Structure Dynamics Induced by Biological Activity" Global Change Biology (2020) 10.1111/gcb.15289

[31]

Minasny B. "Soil Carbon Sequestration: Much More Than a Climate Solution" Environmental Science & Technology (2023) 10.1021/acs.est.3c07312

[32]

10.1111/j.1365‐2389.2006.00836.x

[33]

Pan S. Z. "Characterization of Gleyization of Paddy Soils in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River" Pedosphere (1996)

[34]

Pikul J. L. "Infiltration and Soil Properties as Affected by Annual Cropping in the Northern Great Plains" Agronomy Journal (1995) 10.2134/agronj1995.00021962008700040009x

[35]

Popat R. andK.Banakara.2020.“Doebioresearch: Analysis of Design of Experiments for Biological Research. R Package Version 0.1. 0.” 10.32614/cran.package.doebioresearch

[36]

Qui N. V. "Effects of Rotating Rice With Upland Crops and Adding Organic Amendments, and of Related Soil Quality on Rice Yield in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta" Agronomy (2024) 10.3390/agronomy14061185

[37]

R Core Team (2024)

[38]

Salomé C. "Carbon Dynamics in Topsoil and in Subsoil May Be Controlled by Different Regulatory Mechanisms" Global Change Biology (2010) 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01884.x

[39]

Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis

Johannes Schindelin, Ignacio Arganda-Carreras, Erwin Frise et al.

Nature Methods 2012 10.1038/nmeth.2019

[40]

Sehgal J. (1989)

[41]

Six J. "Aggregate and Soil Organic Matter Dynamics Under Conventional and No‐Tillage Systems" Soil Science Society of America Journal (1999) 10.2136/sssaj1999.6351350x

[42]

Srinivasarao C. "Long‐Term Manuring and Fertilizer Effects on Depletion of Soil Organic Carbon Stocks Under Pearl Millet‐Cluster Bean‐Castor Rotation in Western India" Land Degradation and Development (2014) 10.1002/ldr.1158

[43]

Sun X. "Long‐Term Manure Application Enhances Carbon Use Efficiency in Soil Aggregates by Regulating Microbial Communities in Cropland" Soil Biology and Biochemistry (2025) 10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109945

[44]

Thoumazeau A. "Biofunctool: A New Framework to Assess the Impact of Land Management on Soil Quality. Part B: Investigating the Impact of Land Management of Rubber Plantations on Soil Quality With the Biofunctool Index" Ecological Indicators (2019) 10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.10.028

[45]

Thoumazeau A. "Biofunctool: A New Framework to Assess the Impact of Land Management on Soil Quality. Part A: Concept and Validation of the Set of Indicators" Ecological Indicators (2019) 10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.09.023

[46]

Thoumazeau A. "SituResp: A Time‐ and Cost‐Effective Method to Assess Basal Soil Respiration in the Field" Applied Soil Ecology (2017) 10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.10.006

[47]

Törne E. v. "Assessing Feeding Activities of Soil‐Living Animals. I. Bait‐Lamina‐Tests" Pedobiologia (1990) 10.1016/s0031-4056(24)00012-x

[48]

Wang J. "Plant Growth Stages and Fertilization Regimes Drive Soil Fungal Community Compositions in a Wheat‐Rice Rotation System" Biology and Fertility of Soils (2018) 10.1007/s00374-018-1295-4

[49]

Watanabe T. "Effects of Continuous Rice Straw Compost Application on Rice Yield and Soil Properties in the Mekong Delta" Soil Science & Plant Nutrition (2009) 10.1111/j.1747-0765.2009.00424.x

[50]

Weil R. R. "Estimating Active Carbon for Soil Quality Assessment: A Simplified Method for Laboratory and Field Use" American Journal of Alternative Agriculture (2003) 10.1079/ajaa200228

Showing 50 of 52 references

Metrics

0

Citations

52

References

Details

Published: Apr 01, 2026
Vol/Issue: 42(2)
License: View

Authors

T

Thang Do Trong

Department of Soil Sciences Soils and Fertilizers Institute (SFI) Hanoi Vietnam

C

Cornelia Rumpel

IRD, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ Paris Est Creteil, INRAe Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (iEES‐Paris) Paris France

T

Tien Minh Tran

Department of Soil Sciences Soils and Fertilizers Institute (SFI) Hanoi Vietnam

P

Pascal Jouquet

IRD, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ Paris Est Creteil, INRAe Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (iEES‐Paris) Paris France; Research and Innovation Center, Faculty of Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) Phnom Penh Cambodia

A

Alexis Thoumazeau

CIRAD, UMR ABSys, Univ Montpellier, INRAE, CIRAD, Institut Agro, CIHEAM‐IAMM Montpellier France; HRPP Kasetsart University Bangkok Thailand

T

Trang Thi Thu Tran

Research Center for Midland Soils and Fertilizers Soils and Fertilizers Institute Bac Giang Province Vietnam

N

Nicolas Bottinelli

Department of Soil Sciences Soils and Fertilizers Institute (SFI) Hanoi Vietnam; IRD, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ Paris Est Creteil, INRAe Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (iEES‐Paris) Paris France

Funding

Agence Nationale de la Recherche Award: ANR‐22‐PEXF‐0005

Cite This Article

Thang Do Trong, Cornelia Rumpel, Tien Minh Tran, et al. (2026). Long‐Term Organic Matter Additions Increase Soil Health and Rice Yield in a Tropical Paddy Soil by Enhancing Carbon Transformation Functions. Soil Use and Management, 42(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.70198

Long‐Term Organic Matter Additions Increase Soil Health and Rice Yield in a Tropical Paddy Soil by Enhancing Carbon Transformation Functions

You May Also Like