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Agronomy
Volume 15
Issue 12
10.3390/agronomy15122698
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Article

Diversified Crop Rotation Improves Soil Quality by Increasing Soil Organic Carbon in Long-Term Continuous Cotton Fields

by
Qiuyu Ren
1,2,
Jinbin Wang
1,2,
Hang Qiao
1,2,
Mingwei Du
1,3,
Qiang Hu
1,2,
Sumei Wan
1,2,
Hongqiang Dong
1,2,
Jialiang Zhang
1,2,
Zhenlin Dong
1,2,
Tiantian Li
1,2,
Zhengjun Cui
1,2,4,* and
Guodong Chen
1,2,*
1
College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
2
Key Laboratory of Genetic Improvement and Efficient Production for Specialty Crops in Arid Southern Xinjiang of Xinjiang Corps, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
3
College of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
4
Tarim Institute of Eco-Environment Protection and Restoration, Alar 843300, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agronomy 2025, 15(12), 2698; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122698 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 14 October 2025 / Revised: 17 November 2025 / Accepted: 22 November 2025 / Published: 23 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Green and Efficient Cotton Cultivation)
Versions Notes

Abstract

To explore the improvement effect of diversified crop rotation on soil quality in long-term continuous cotton fields (15 years), a field experiment was conducted in southern Xinjiang in 2024. With continuous cotton (C-C) as the control, four crop rotations, namely, cotton–maize (C-M), cotton–wheat (C-W), cotton–soybean (C-S), and cotton–peanut (C-P), were set up. The results showed that compared with C-C, the soil organic carbon (SOC) treated by C-P and C-S increased significantly by 11.76% and 3.38%, respectively, and the easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC) increased by 45.18% and 37.15%, respectively. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) treated with C-S increased by 14.36%, while C-M decreased by 10.98%. The carbon pool index (CPI) of C-P was the highest in the 0–20 cm soil layer, which was 13.00% higher than that of C-C. The β-1, 4-glucosidase (BGL) activity of C-C at 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm was 144.70–387.26% and 48.01%–71.32% higher than that of other treatments, respectively. The RuBisCo activity of C-P was 80.96% higher than that of C-C. The soil quality index was the highest for C-S, followed by C-P, which was 74.56% higher than that of C-C. In conclusion, the cotton–peanut rotation can effectively improve the soil quality of continuous cotton fields by increasing the organic carbon composition, enhancing the activity of carbon-fixing enzymes and bacterial diversity.
Keywords: crop rotation; cotton; carbon component; microorganisms; soil quality crop rotation; cotton; carbon component; microorganisms; soil quality

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Ren, Q.; Wang, J.; Qiao, H.; Du, M.; Hu, Q.; Wan, S.; Dong, H.; Zhang, J.; Dong, Z.; Li, T.; et al. Diversified Crop Rotation Improves Soil Quality by Increasing Soil Organic Carbon in Long-Term Continuous Cotton Fields. Agronomy 2025, 15, 2698. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122698

AMA Style

Ren Q, Wang J, Qiao H, Du M, Hu Q, Wan S, Dong H, Zhang J, Dong Z, Li T, et al. Diversified Crop Rotation Improves Soil Quality by Increasing Soil Organic Carbon in Long-Term Continuous Cotton Fields. Agronomy. 2025; 15(12):2698. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122698

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ren, Qiuyu, Jinbin Wang, Hang Qiao, Mingwei Du, Qiang Hu, Sumei Wan, Hongqiang Dong, Jialiang Zhang, Zhenlin Dong, Tiantian Li, and et al. 2025. "Diversified Crop Rotation Improves Soil Quality by Increasing Soil Organic Carbon in Long-Term Continuous Cotton Fields" Agronomy 15, no. 12: 2698. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122698

APA Style

Ren, Q., Wang, J., Qiao, H., Du, M., Hu, Q., Wan, S., Dong, H., Zhang, J., Dong, Z., Li, T., Cui, Z., & Chen, G. (2025). Diversified Crop Rotation Improves Soil Quality by Increasing Soil Organic Carbon in Long-Term Continuous Cotton Fields. Agronomy, 15(12), 2698. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122698

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