No Tillage During the Summer Fallow Enhanced Soil Functional Quality by Regulating Soil Structure and Organic Carbon Sequestration

To address the issue of inefficient soil water utilization in dryland wheat fields, caused by a mismatch between summer fallow precipitation and crop growth periods, implementing fallow-period tillage was crucial for conserving water and enhancing yield. However, there was a lack of comprehensive evaluations of the impact of different tillage practices on soil functional quality based on multidimensional indicators, and the relationship between yield and soil functional quality remained unclear. This study established three treatments during the summer fallow period: no tillage (FNT), subsoiling tillage (FST) and plowing tillage (FPT). We determined the soil water-stable aggregates particle size distribution and stability, aggregate organic carbon (AOC) content, soil organic carbon (SOC) content and storage (SOCs), as well as winter wheat yield. Using the Z-score method, we integrated the soil's physical and chemical indicators to perform a comprehensive evaluation of different tillage practices. The results showed that FNT significantly enhanced soil aggregate stability in the 0-30 cm soil depths compared to FST and FPT (<i>p</i> < 0.05), which was primarily attributed to a substantial increase in the content of >2 mm aggregates. Meanwhile, FNT resulted in significantly higher SOCs within the 0-50 cm profile, with increases of 8.1% and 5.8% compared to FST and FPT (<i>p</i> < 0.05), respectively. This was primarily due to elevated SOC content and higher AOC contents within the 2-0.25 mm and >2 mm aggregates in the topsoil layer. In contrast, FST significantly increased grain yield compared to FNT and FPT, by 16.7% and 15.0% (<i>p</i> < 0.05), respectively, which was associated with higher ear number and ear grains. A comprehensive evaluation using the Z-score method revealed that FNT achieved the highest soil functional quality score across the five layers. Therefore, no tillage during the summer fallow can enhance soil functional quality, primarily due to its positive impact on soil structure and carbon sequestration, but may not immediately increase crop yield.