Effects of cropping patterns on yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco, soil nutrients and enzyme activities

A 6-year fixed field experiment was carried out to study the effects of different cropping patterns on the yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco, soil nutrient and enzyme activities on a typical Loess Soil. Three cropping patterns were adopted: Continuous tobacco cropping, tobacco-corn cropping and corn-tobacco-tobacco cropping. The results showed that continuous tobacco cropping resulted in a poorer yield and quality of tobacco, lower pH, activities of urease and invertase in soil were observed under compared to tobacco-corn and corn-tobacco-tobacco cropping pattern, but a higher available P and available K as well as activity of catalase in soils. Crop rotation was recommended in the local area because it could increase the yield and improved the quality of tobacco.