Research Progress of Direct Straw Return in Anhui Province over the Last Decade

The returning straw directly to the field is the most widely adopted approach of straw utilization. Anhui is an important agricultural province with abundant main grain crop straw resources. In recent years, the direct straw return was actively promoted and a series of relative research were conducted in Anhui Province. In order to provide reference for the development of more in-depth research and promote the efficient utilization of straw resources, the recent important advances in straw direct returning technology and the effects of straw incorporation on soil fertility, crop production and agricultural eco-environment in Anhui Province were reviewed in this paper. The research progress of direct straw return in Anhui Province over the last decade were mainly embodied in the following aspects. (1) The technology of straw direct returning was optimized from manner of straw returning and combined application of chemical fertilizers. (2) The introduction of chemical structure of soil organic matter and soil microbial community structure broadened the research field concerning the effects of direct straw return on soil physical, chemical and biological properties. (3) The impact of straw incorporation on crop diseases, insect pests and weeds was beginning to be explored, and the increasingly attention was being paid to the environmental effects of straw return on nitrogen and phosphorus loss and greenhouse gas emission. Therefore, it could be concluded that the research on direct straw return in Anhui Province presented the transformation from a focus on crop production to more attention on eco-environmental effects. In the future, the study on straw directly returning to the field in Anhui Province should be strengthened from the following aspects: improving regional weak links, expanding research contents, clarifying environmental effects, and deepening mechanism exploration.