Astragalus sinicus (Chinese milk vetch) is a well-established resource of organic fertilizer widely used in paddy soil to partially replace chemical fertilizers. However, the influence of returning A. sinicus to fields on the soil bacterial community remains poorly understood. Here, we used different amounts of A. sinicus partially replacing chemical fertilizers and investigated the changes in soil physicochemical factors and the soil bacterial community structure responses. Returning A. sinicus to the field significantly increased the soil total nitrogen and available phosphorus content (p