Abstract:
Northeast China's black soil region is a vital foundation for national food security, and its conservation and efficient utilization has become a national strategic priority. As a key pathway to achieving the sustainable use of black soil, conservation tillage technology has demonstrated significant effectiveness in recent years in mitigating soil erosion, improving soil properties, and supporting stable and increased crop yields. However, substantial heterogeneity in natural resource endowments and pronounced regional differentiation in production-limiting factors across the black soil region have led to insufficient regional adaptability and standardization of existing conservation tillage practices. This study systematically reviews the global and domestic development of conservation tillage in black soil regions, the major research institutions involved, and their scientific achievements; analyzes the mechanisms through which conservation tillage affects water and nutrient transport, soil habitat conditions, and crop productivity; and explores pest, disease, and weed occurrence patterns as well as biodiversity maintenance mechanisms under diversified cropping systems. Considering the fundamental attributes of agricultural production, hydrothermal conditions and soil habitat remain key constraints determining whether conservation tillage technologies can be effectively implemented. Therefore, while promoting site-specific conservation tillage practices, it is essential to establish an integrated “tillage-planting-management-evaluation-utilization” technical system, strengthen precision water-nutrient regulation and ecological pest, disease, and weed management, and systematically tap regional resource potential to develop diversified cropping systems and production evaluation frameworks tailored to different ecological zones. By fostering high-yield, high-efficiency, and sustainable production models driven by multi-factor coupling, this framework aims to facilitate the strategic transition from merely "protecting" black soils to "effectively utilizing" them and to provide comprehensive scientific and technological support for China's green agricultural development and the enhancement of national food security.