Effects of agricultural waste returning on soil nematode community composition

The effects of different agricultural wastes (CK, no addition; straw ploughed at 45 t ha⁻¹, manure compost applied at 45 t ha⁻¹, straw biochar applied at 45 t ha⁻¹, compost and straw applied at 22.5 t ha⁻¹ each, biochar and straw applied at 22.5 t ha⁻¹ each, compost and biochar applied at 22.5 t ha⁻¹ each, straw, biochar and compost applied at 15 t ha⁻¹ each) on soil nematode community were conducted in a maize field, northeast China. The amendments were applied as base fertilizer once per year. Bacterivores were the dominant genera in the organic mixtures input plots. The compost combinations had the highest abundance of bacterivores and omnivores comparison with CK. Shannon-Weaver diversity index and maturity index were 37.5% and 49.2% higher when organic mixtures were applied than in CK. The combination of straw, compost, and biochar reduced the incidence of plant-pathogenic nematode disease by 93.7%. Microbial biomass C and N were 30.1% and 42.4% greater when biochar combinations were applied than in CK. Overall, agricultural wastes returning provides an alternative to control plant-pathogenic nematode disease instead of using chemical nematicides, with the characteritics of cheap, improving soil fertility and above all environmentally friendly.