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China's plan to establish a social credit system (SCS) has aroused the concern of building a surveillance state. Yet this view oversimplifies and misunderstands the essence of the SCS. The highest priorities of the SCS are promoting economic credibility and reinforcing court orders. Meanwhile, the SCS aims to steer citizens' social behaviors and interactions by utilizing a redlist system that introduces numerous moderate rewards. The SCS is also more lax in execution than in planning. It reflects a unique Chinese understanding of law, which treats law as a moral guide. This article also acknowledges the concerns for the SCS. Without actively preventing positive and negative invasions in the construction of the project, the SCS authorities will risk creating further mistrust in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic fertilization, a critical agronomic practice for improving nutrient availability and crop growth, may increase the risk of phosphorus (P) loss. To investigate the effect of organic fertilization on P availability, crop growth and P loss, a paddy field experiment was conducted in the saline-alkaline paddy soil. We designed four treatments: CK (no fertilizer), NPK (mineral fertilizer), and NPKC1 and NPKC2 (mineral fertilizer with low and high levels of organic fertilizer, respectively); the amounts of N, P2O5, and K2O were equal in the NPK, NPKC1, and NPKC2 treatments. Compared with the NPK treatment, organic fertilization enhanced the content of total, organic, and available P in the topsoil. Moreover, organic fertilization significantly improved both the growth and P removal of crops. The content of oxalate Fe, Al, and dissolved organic carbon, the main carriers of P loss, in the soil was the highest in the NPKC2 treatment. The soil P saturation ratio (PSR) in the NPKC2 treatment was 0.25, exceeding the threshold PSR for P loss of 0.16. Therefore, organic fertilizer application could improve P availability and crop growth; however, high-level organic fertilization increases the risk of P loss in coastal saline-alkaline paddy soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bindings of organic matter (OM) with iron (Fe-OM complexes) are important for soil carbon (C) sequestration. Our objective was to evaluate the role of laccase in the formation of Fe-OM complexes in a coastal saline paddy soil. The experiment included two factors: (1) two nitrogen (N) levels, 255 (N1) and 400 (N2) kg N ha−1; (2) three straw levels: 0 (S0), 4500 (S1) and 9000 (S2) kg C ha−1. The results showed that the combined application of straw and N fertilizer increased the content of Fe-bound OC and laccase activity, both of which were the highest in N1S1 treatment, which was 7.48% and 0.58 μmol g−1 h−1, respectively. The content of Fe-bound OC was positively correlated with laccase activity, Feam content and soil moisture content, but negatively correlated with pH. Both Fe-bound OC and laccase activity were positively correlated with aliphatic functional groups and hydroxyl or amidogen, while both were negatively correlated with aromatic functional groups. Therefore, laccase might promote the formation of Fe-bound OC by changing the chemical structure of OC. In addition, the combined application of straw and N fertilizer could change laccase activity by changing microbial community structure (e.g. Chloroflexi, Ascomycetes and Zygomycota). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic amendments could improve soil nitrogen (N) availability and transformation characteristics, which decreases the N loss within soil profile induced by N excessive application. A field experiment was designed in Shiqiang village with different organic amendments in 2018: (i) control (CK); (ii) chemical fertilizer (NPK); (iii) 1200 kg C ha−1 plus NPK (NPKM) and (iv) 40 kg humic acid ha−1 plus NPK (NPKH). Compared with NPK treatment, in 0–30 cm soil, NH4+-N content in NPKM and NPKH treatments was increased by 9.15% and 13.36% and NO3– N content was increased by 11.44% and 12.85%, respectively, while in 30–60 cm soil, NO3– N content in NPKM and NPKH treatments was decreased by 13.51% and 8.54%, because organic amendments inhibited N leaching to deeper soil. Soil urease and invertase activity in NPKH treatment was 9.52% and 8.31% higher than that in NPK treatment, which was decreased with the decreasing soil depth. The grain yield was increased by 14.17% and 23.87% in NPKM and NPKH treatments, respectively. Thus, humic acid fertilizer was better in increasing wheat yield by improving N transformation and enzyme activities, which could increase wheat N uptake and inhibit N loss in North China Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of high-yielding agricultural production systems is severely restricted by low soil organic carbon (SOC) and high Na+ concentration in saline-alkaline soils. In order to confirm the effects of biochar and phosphorus (P) fertilization on SOC sequestration, soil physical structure and inorganic P (Pi) fractions, as well as optimize the amount of P fertilizer, a field experiment was designed with two factors: with biochar at 0 (C0), 1% (C1) and 3% (C2); with P at 0 (P0), 64 (P1) and 128 kg ha−1 (P2). The results indicated that biochar input enhanced SOC, however, the effect of P application on SOC and soil physical structure were negligible. Compared to C0, SOC was increased by 98–113% for C1 and 180–195% for C2. Due to the SOC enhancement and reduction of soil Na+ concentration, biochar input decreased ρb, increased MWD and WSMA. For Pi fractions, soil Olsen-P, Ca2-P, Ca8-P, Fe-P and Al-P were increased, mainly due to the direct supply, retention and the improvement of biological availability. Overall, C2P1 was the most efficiency treatment to enhance SOC, improve soil physical structure, and C2P2 avail to increase the supply capacity of soil P, but had no significant difference with that in C2P1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]