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A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of four cultivation modes (conventional tillage, no-tillage, conventional tillage + stubble-remaining, and no-tillage + stubble-remaining) on the activities of urease, acid phosphatase, protease, and cellulose in different soil layers in a broadcasting rice seedlings paddy field. Under the four cultivation modes, the activities of test enzymes were higher in upper than in deeper soil layers, and had a greater difference between the soil layers under no-tillage + stubble-remaining. In upper soil layers, the activities of test enzymes were higher in the treatments of no-tillage than in the treatments of conventional tillage, being the highest under no-tillage + stubble-remaining and the lowest under conventional tillage. In deeper soil layers, the test enzyme activities were the highest under conventional tillage + stubble-remaining, followed by no-tillage + stubble-remaining, no-tillage, and conventional tillage. During the growth period of rice, soil urease and cellulose activities were lower at tillering stage, increased to the maximum at booting stage, and decreased then, soil acid phosphatase activity was higher at tillering stage but lower at elongating stage, whereas soil protease activity peaked at tillering and heading stages.

A field experiment was conducted on a paddy field to study the effects of returning straw to soil and different tillage methods (no-tillage + returning straw, no-tillage, tillage + returning straw, and tillage) on the fertility level and microbial quantities of different soil layers. The results showed that in upper soil layer, the organic matter content in treatment 'no-tillage + returning straw' was 5.33, 2.79, and 5.37 g x kg(-1) higher than that in treatments 'no-tillage', 'tillage + returning straw', and 'tillage', respectively, and the contents of total and available N, P and K in treatment 'no-tillage + returning straw' were also the highest, followed by in treatments 'no-tillage' and 'tillage + returning straw', and in treatment 'tillage'. In deeper soil layer, all the fertility indices were higher in treatment 'tillage + returning straw'. Treatments of 'returning straw to soil' had the highest quantities of soil microbes. The quantities of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes in upper soil layer were the highest in treatment 'no-tillage + returning straw', and thus, the cellulose decomposition intensity in this treatment at maturity period was 26.44%, 79.01%, and 98. 15% higher than that in treatments 'tillage + returning straw', 'no-tillage', and 'tillage', respectively. In deeper soil layer, the quantities of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes were the highest in treatment 'tillage + returning straw'. Treatment 'no-tillage + returning straw' had the features of high fertility and abundant microbes in surface soil layer. The quantities of soil bacteria and actinomycetes and the decomposition intensity of soil cellulose were significantly positively correlated with soil fertility level.