Straw incorporation (SI) is a common practice in China and has important implications for agricultural sustainability. This study aimed to quantitatively summarise the response of top soil (0-20 cm) carbon (C) to SI under different agricultural management regimes. Results indicated that compared with straw removal (SR), SI significantly increased soil C storage by 12 %. Moreover, incorporation of chopped straw with tillage treatment (ploughing and rotary tillage) increased C storage compared to unchopped straw without tillage treatment. SI implementation with upland cropping, in the northwest and northeast resulted in higher C storage compared with rice cropping, and in the northern and southern regions. Changes in soil C were observed based on SI variables, including tillage and straw amounts in fine-textured soils, however straw amount rather than tillage treatment exhibited a greater influence on soil C in coarse-textured soils. We concluded SI implementation with increased amounts of chopped straw for a longer duration was favourable to soil C sequestration in Chinese croplands. Furthermore, we estimated if SI was popularised across all of China's agricultural regions, soil C sequestration potential would reach 48.2 similar to 56.2 Tg C year(-1). SI practices should therefore be encouraged.
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