Abstract:
Albic soil is a typical low-yield problematic soil in Northeast China, primarily distributed in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, with a total area of 527.2×10
4 hm
2 and cultivated land exceeding 266.67×10
4 hm
2. The soil profile consists of four distinct layers from top to bottom: the black soil layer, albic layer, illuvial layer, and parent material layer. The black soil layer typically has a thickness of 18~25 cm, less than half that of typical black soil. Beneath it lies the infertile albic layer, which serves as a restrictive horizon for crop root growth, with a thickness of 20~40 cm and organic matter content generally below 1%. The albic layer exhibits a hardness of 25~50 kg/cm
2 and a bulk density exceeding 1.50 g/cm
3, preventing crop roots from penetrating downward and adversely affecting crop growth. The soil demonstrates poor air permeability and water conductivity, being essentially impermeable to both air and water, making it prone to waterlogging and drought. The total nutrient storage in the 0~50 cm soil layer is only 1/2 to 1/3 that of black soil. Under normal conditions, crop yields are 10~20% lower than those in adjacent black soil areas, with more pronounced yield reductions during drought or waterlogging years, sometimes resulting in complete crop failure. In response to the issues of degraded farmland quality, low crop yields, and limited productivity improvement in arable land caused by the thin black soil layer, presence of hard obstacle layers, low nutrient content in the albic horizon, and shallow effective tillage layer in albic soils, this paper summarizes the development, technical characteristics, implementation methods, application effects, and future prospects of subsoil fertilization technology for albic soils. The subsoil fertilization technology can improve the poor physical properties of the albic horizon, break through obstacle layers, reduce soil hardness and solid-phase ratio; regulate soil chemical indicators, enhance the fertility of the albic horizon, and regulate soil pH; create a soil environment suitable for crop growth and development, increase the number of crop roots and the distribution ratio of deep roots, and improve crop yields with sustained multi-year aftereffects. During the application process, attention must be paid to existing problems, continuous technological refinement, and extension of application scenarios. The technology demonstrates significant effects in nutrient-poor soils with thin black soil layers, exhibits broad applicability, and holds promising application prospects, providing technical support for the improvement of low-yield soils, obstacle mitigation, and enhancement of arable land productivity in black soil regions.