Mechanisms by which organic fertilizer and effective microbes mitigate peanut continuous cropping yield constraints in a red soil of south China

Red soils are acid soils which occupy about one fifth of the total area of tropical and subtropical soils in China. Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is regarded as the main oil and cash crop in the red soil region. However, yields of peanut have gradually but significantly declined under continuous cropping. We conducted a field experiment in Jiangxi province, south China from 1996 to investigate the mitigation of the peanut continuous cropping constraint. Three types of fertilizer (chemical, organic, and organic fertilizer with effective microbes) were applied in the field. After 20 years of cropping the continuous cropping constraint was found to be more severe where chemical fertilizers were applied and was mitigated where the fields were amended with organic fertilizer or organic fertilizer with effective microbes. Soil properties and the rhizosphere bacterial community structure were determined in 2016. Long-term application (20 years) of organic fertilizer increased the plant available phosphorus in the rhizosphere soil. Phosphorus is known to be one of the most limiting factors for peanut growth in red soils and peanut yield was promoted as the soil phosphorus status increased. Organic fertilizer and effective microbes also optimized the rhizobacteria of peanut to mitigate the continuous cropping obstacle. The bacterial wilt pathogen (Ralstonia) decreased in abundance in the rhizosphere and bacterial wilt disease of peanut declined significantly. Moreover, beneficial bacteria in the rhizosphere capable of promoting peanut growth increased in abundance.