Straw and Manure Return Can Increase MaizeYield by Driving Soil Microbial Communityand Improving Soil Properties in Mollisols

Organic waste has been found to alter soil fertility and influence crop yield and is a key management strategy for achieving sustainable agriculture.We studied the change in the soil properties, enzymes, microbial community composition, and crop yields across four organic waste return practices (CK: no maize straw and no animal manure control; MS: maize straw only; CS: chicken manure plus maize straw; OS: ox manure plus maize straw) in a Mollisol.Our analysis showed that the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, available phosphorus, and soil organic carbon contents increased by 2.52-6.64%,7.22-21.67%,9.92-25.61%,and 9.56-29.98%under the organic waste return treatments, respectively, compared to the CK.Chicken manure plus maize straw treatment enhanced the activities of soil urease and alkaline phosphatase, and also recorded the highest maize yield.Additionally, the application of animal manure and maize straw increased the bacterial and fungal diversity indexes and the abundance of Pseudomonadota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota.In conclusion, our findings revealed that applying organic waste, especially chicken manure plus maize straw return, was the most effective treatment for enhancing soil factors, microbial community, and maize yields.These findings offer valuable insights for the development of more effective organic waste return strategies.