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Soil health improvement and climate change mitigation in soybean agroecosystems
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  • Published: 02 April 2026

Soil health improvement and climate change mitigation in soybean agroecosystems

  • Ratih Kemala Dewi1 nAff2,
  • Qiliang Huang3 nAff4,
  • Rahmatullah Hashimi3 nAff5,
  • Soh Sugihara6,
  • Junta Yanai7,
  • Nobuo Sakagami8,9 &
  • …
  • Masakazu Komatsuzaki1,9 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Ecology
  • Environmental sciences
  • Plant sciences

Abstract

Although soil health indicator is extensively examined worldwide, Japan has yet to establish a soil health assessment framework calibrated to the unique properties of Andosols. In this study, we evaluated a long-term (19-year) organically managed soybean field and generated soil health scores using a cumulative normal distribution function to develop a site-specific benchmark. Treatments were tillage (no-tillage, moldboard plowing, and rotary tillage), cover crop (rye, hairy vetch, and fallow), and the addition of fertilizer or biochar in four replications. Intensive tillage reduced soil health, with soil health score under moldboard plowing significantly lower than no-tillage during 2020–2022 (p < 0.05). No-tillage with cover crop and biochar enhanced soil health status by sustaining soil organic carbon (SOC) at 3.8–4.8%. Overall soil health score was positively correlated with SOC (r = 0.7; p < 0.01), while higher soil health score was strongly associated with reductions in net global warming potential (rs = − 0.95; p < 0.01). SOC emerged as one of the most influential indicators, directly influenced soil ß-glucosidase activity (r = 0.84, p < 0.001), substrate-induced respiration (r = 0.7, p < 0.001), NO3– (r = 0.65, p < 0.05), and EC (r = 0.36, p < 0.01). Although NT-based systems may not achieve the highest yields due to interannual variability, they may offer substantial environmental benefits by contributing to long-term climate change mitigation.

Data availability

The research data supporting the results of this manuscript are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Due to institutional regulations, the dataset cannot be made publicly available.

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Acknowledgements

A part of this research was conducted with the support of the Educational and Research Operating Funds of Ibaraki University.

Funding

A part of this research was conducted with the support of the Educational and Research Operating Funds of Ibaraki University.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ratih Kemala Dewi

    Present address: Vocational School, Production Technology and Agricultural Community Development, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia

  2. Qiliang Huang

    Present address: Sanya Institute, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

  3. Rahmatullah Hashimi

    Present address: Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center at El Paso, Texas A&M University System, El Paso, TX, 79927, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for International Field Agriculture Research & Education, College of Agriculture, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan

    Ratih Kemala Dewi & Masakazu Komatsuzaki

  2. United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan

    Qiliang Huang & Rahmatullah Hashimi

  3. Institute of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan

    Soh Sugihara

  4. Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto, Japan

    Junta Yanai

  5. Department of Food and Life science, College of Agriculture, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan

    Nobuo Sakagami

  6. Green Biotechnology Center, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan

    Nobuo Sakagami & Masakazu Komatsuzaki

Authors
  1. Ratih Kemala Dewi
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Contributions

R.K.D.: Methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, writing an original draft. Q.H.: Investigation, data curation and review. R.H.: Investigation, data curation and review. S.S.: Data curation and review. J.Y.: Data curation and review. N.S.: Data curation and review. M.K.: Conceptualization, methodology, supervision, review and editing, and validation. All authors contributed to concept and development, data interpretation, and writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masakazu Komatsuzaki.

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Cite this article

Dewi, R.K., Huang, Q., Hashimi, R. et al. Soil health improvement and climate change mitigation in soybean agroecosystems. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45849-8

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  • Received: 31 July 2025

  • Accepted: 23 March 2026

  • Published: 02 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-45849-8

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Keywords

  • Agroecosystems
  • Farming management
  • Soil health indicators
  • Sustainable agriculture
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