Effects of Winter Covering Crops on Rice Growth and Soil Nutrient Status in the Paddy Fields
In order to screen suitable winter covering crops for rice cultivation in Hubei region,field experiments were conducted in Wuhan,Hubei to study the effects of different winter covering crops on rice yield,nutrients,and soil nutrient content.The results showed that winter planting of covered crops couldpromote rice yieldby6.95%-12.91%,andplanting greenmanure inwinterwasmore conducive to improving rice yield than returning rapeseed straw to the field to a certain extent.Winter covering crops mainly affected the number of grains per panicle of rice,which could improve the dry matter quality of rice by 12.15%-18.22%,increase nitrogen accumulation by 3.44%-13.66%,and potassium accumulation by 3.17%-11.12%.Returning straw to the field had a significant effect on increasing potassium accumulation in rice.Winter covering crops could increase the activity of urease,phosphatase,and invertase in the rhizosphere soil during the rice harvest period,resulting in an increase of 3.42%-7.92%,2.81%-21.77%,and 2.05%-8.55%in the alkaline hydrolyzed nitrogen,available phosphorus,and available potassium content of the soil after rice harvest.Planting rapeseed and rice in a fertile field had the highest alkaline hydrolyzed ni-trogen and available phosphorus content in the soil after rice harvest,while straw returning had the highest available potassium content in the soil.