Abstract:Enhancing soil nutrient utilization efficiency and productivity is a crucial approach for promoting black soil conservation and sustainable agricultural development. The effects of digestate combined with biochar incorporated at different depths on black soil nutrients and soybean growth were investigated through a pot experiment. The experiment included three biochar incorporation depths: no application (H0),applied shallowly in the 0~20 cm soil layer (H1),and applied deeply in the 0~40 cm soil layer (H2),combined with two fertilization methods: conventional fertilization (N0) and digestate application (N3),resulting in a total of six treatments. The results demonstrated that deep biochar application significantly increased soil nutrient content and promoted soybean growth. Furthermore,the advantages of digestate application over conventional fertilization in enhancing soil nutrient accumulation and soybean growth became more pronounced with increasing biochar incorporation depth. Throughout the growth period,compared with the H0N0 treatment,in the 0~20 cm soil layer,the H1N3 treatment increased ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen content by 26.14% and 30.73%,respectively,soil microbial biomass nitrogen by 18.82%,and total soil nitrogen by 13.21%. In the 20~40 cm soil layer,the H2N3 treatment increased ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen content by 25.85% and 33.38%,respectively,soil microbial biomass nitrogen by 20.58%,and total soil nitrogen by 12.21%. Additionally,the H2N3 treatment significantly enhanced soybean physiological parameters: leaf chlorophyll content was increased by 39.89%,net photosynthetic rate was increased by 32.45%,stomatal conductance was increased by 27.01%,and instantaneous leaf water use efficiency was increased by 19.88%. Correspondingly,soybean yield was increased by 28.67%. A comprehensive evaluation based on the entropy-weighted TOPSIS model identified the H2N3 treatment as the most effective. This treatment not only effectively activated deep soil resources and expanded the soil nutrient pool but also significantly improved the nutrient use efficiency of digestate,resulting in a notable synergistic enhancement effect on both soil fertility and crop yield. These findings can provide a scientific basis for optimizing the deep application of biochar and digestate in black soil regions.