Bioscience Methods 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 254-261 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/bm 257 as bacteria that help crops take root, mycorrhizal fungi, and microorganisms that can participate in carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles (LeBlanc, 2022). These microorganisms can increase soil enzyme activity, and nutrients are more easily absorbed by plants. At the same time, “bad bacteria” such as pathogens will decrease (Ablimit et al., 2022). Therefore, these changes in soil microorganisms are a key reason for the good effect of green manure (Gao et al., 2021). Figure 1 The fallow treatment was the soil without green manure application, while the ryegrass and Chinese milk vetch application treatments including growth period and incorporation period. All the three treatments were combined with three fertilizers, including mineral fertilizer, organic manure and humic acid fertilizer. Also, a control without green manure and fertilizer was set up (Adopted from Xu et al., 2023) 6 Case Studies 6.1 Application practices in rice-legume rotations in southern China In the rice-bean rotation in southern China, farmers often use Chinese milk vetch or sesbania as green manure. Turning these green manures into the fields and then planting rice seedlings can make rice grow better. Experimental data show that in double-season rice fields, replacing 20%-40% of chemical fertilizers with green manure can increase the yield of early rice by 15.6% and late rice by 9.3% (Zhang et al., 2022; Xiao et al., 2024). In hotter areas, using sesbania or stylosanthes as green manure can increase the yield of colored rice by 24%-29%, and the anthocyanin content in the grains will also increase (Figure 2) (Song et al., 2024). If rice straw is used together with green manure, rice can absorb nitrogen better, and chemical fertilizers can be saved a little more (Yang et al., 2019). 6.2 Green manure introduction in dryland legume systems in northern China In the dryland areas of northern China, planting green manure crops such as forage peas and wild peas is very helpful for the land. They can make the soil easier to retain water and increase crop yields. If there is a lot of rain and the temperature is suitable, the yield of the plots planted with these green manures is 9.5% to 16.7% higher than that of the plots without green manure (Feng et al., 2024). These legumes can increase the organic matter in the soil and make the soil more water-retaining. For places that rely on rainwater for farming, whether the soil can
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