Effects of Fertilization and Ridge Furrow Planting Patterns on Soil Microbial Communities, Nutrient Dynamics, and Maize Productivity

This study investigated how fertilization regimes and ridge furrow planting patterns influence the soil nutrient conditions and microbial taxonomic composition and function in the rhizosphere of spring maize in Northeast China. Three treatments were compared: CK (compound fertilizer, small ridge), KF (formula fertilization, small ridge), and BMP (formula fertilization, large double-row ridge). High-throughput sequencing was used to characterize the soil bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity. The results showed that the combination of formula fertilizer and wide-ridge cultivation synergistically improved soil physicochemical properties and significantly increased maize yield (p < 0.05). Compared with CK, both BMP and KF significantly improved the composition and diversity of microbial communities. Notably, the BMP treatment increased the relative abundances of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota—key decomposers of soil organic matter, lignin, and cellulose—which suggested enhanced nutrient cycling potential under this integrated management practice. Among the three treatments, BMP (N:P2O5:K2O = 1:2:1, 130 cm wide-ridge double-row planting) achieved the highest maize yield (859 ± 14 kg ha−1), representing an 11.0% increase over conventional practices (CK, 774 ± 13 kg ha−1). We propose that integrating optimized fertilization with ridge configuration is an effective strategy for improving soil quality, microbial functionality, and crop productivity in Northeast China’s black soil region.