Abstract:Aiming to investigate the effects of biochar-straw co-application and nitrogen fertilizer on the synergistic regulation of nutrient content in sodic saline-alkali soil and rice growth, a two-year field experiment on rice was conducted from 2024 to 2025. The experiment used a split-plot design with four straw returning treatments: control (CK, no straw returning); straw alone at 9 t/hm2 (F); biochar 1 t/hm2 + straw 6 t/hm2 (M1) and biochar 2 t/hm2+ straw 3 t/hm2 (M2). The base fertilizer was set: tillering fertilizer as panicle fertilizer 4∶4∶2 (N1, nitrogen applied later), and base fertilizer as tillering fertilizer 4∶6 (N2, conventional fertilization), totally two types of nitrogen treatments. The research results indicated that: compared with treatment F, the combined application of biochar and straw increased soil nutrient content during the early growth stage and improved the photosynthetic characteristics of rice, with treatment M1 performing better than M2. Specifically, soil ammonium nitrogen in the regreening period under M1 was increased by 5.43% compared with that of treatment F. The deferred application of nitrogen fertilizer further enhanced soil nitrogen content during the jointing and panicle initiation stages and significantly improved rice photosynthetic performance. SPAD, stomatal conductance, and net photosynthetic rate under treatment M1N1 were significantly higher than those under M1N2 by 8.83%, 9.79% and 10.42%, respectively. In addition, M1N1 simultaneously optimized rice grain nitrogen content, nitrogen use efficiency, and yield, with the highest two-year yield reaching 7,614.05 kg/hm2. A comprehensive evaluation based on the entropy-weighted TOPSIS model indicated that the M1N1 treatment had the highest relative closeness, with an evaluation grade of 'excellent'. In summary, the combined application of biochar and straw at 1∶6 ratio along with nitrogen fertilizer was an effective model for synergistically ameliorating sodic saline-alkali soil, enhancing rice photosynthetic capacity, and achieving high yield and nitrogen utilization.