Cutting fertilizer and rotating crops revives soil fungi that feed plants naturally
Soil Health
Rotating tobacco with corn while pulling back on fertilizer rebuilds the hidden fungal networks in farm soil that keep crops fed without chemical inputs, a principle that scales down to any garden bed where you alternate heavy feeders with grasses or grains.
Soil is full of fungi that help plants get nutrients and stay healthy, but heavy fertilizer use and growing the same crop year after year can throw that community off balance. Researchers found that combining two changes, using less fertilizer and alternating between tobacco and corn each season, restored a healthier, more diverse fungal community than either change did on its own. The fungi shifted toward strategies that build long-term soil fertility rather than just surviving in nutrient-saturated conditions.
Key Findings
Reduced fertilization combined with tobacco-maize rotation produced a greater shift in fungal community composition than either practice applied alone.
The rotation-plus-reduced-fertilization treatment increased the proportion of fungi associated with nutrient cycling and decreased stress-tolerant, resource-exploitative guilds.
Fungal ecological strategies shifted from competitive/stress-tolerant profiles toward cooperative profiles linked to improved soil function.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Cutting fertilizer use by a third and rotating tobacco with maize reshapes the fungal life living in soil, shifting which species dominate and how they function. The combination outperforms either practice alone, nudging soil fungi toward strategies that support nutrient cycling and plant health.
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