Abstract: The soil and water loss is serious in the semi-arid area of Western Heilongjiang Province.In order to improve soil physical and chemical properties and increase maize yield,the effects of subsoiling,subsoiling straw returning,deep plowing straw returning and rotary tillage on soil physical and chemical properties and maize growth and development in spring were studied.The results showed that subsoiling straw returning significantly increased soil moisture and ＞ 0.25 mm soil aggregate structure in subsoiling straw returning.Soil organic matter content increased significantly,soil bulk density and pH decreased significantly in deep plowing straw returning.At seedling stage,the root length,root number,root dry weight,plant height,stem diameter,leaf area and plant drying weight of maize were the highest in subsoiling straw returning.At the jointing stage,the root number,root dry weight,plant height,stem diameter,leaf area and plant dry weight were the highest in deep plowing straw returning.Compared with rotary tillage,maize yield in subsoiling straw returning and deep plowing straw returning increased by 2.8%and 4.1%in autumn.The increase of root number at seedling stage could significantly affect the stem diameter and dry weight at seedling stage.Root length at jointing stage had significant effect on plant height at jointing stage.There was a significant correlation between root dry weight and stem diameter at jointing stage.＞0.25 mm aggregate structure was beneficial to the accumulation of available phosphorus in soil,while the increase of pH was not conducive to the accumulation of organic matter in soil.The increase of soil water content could increase the content of alkali hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium in soil.