Purpose <p>Fulvic acid (FA) is utilized as a soil amendment for soils exhibiting salinization and declining fertility. However, concerns have been raised regarding the depletion of FA derived from non-renewable resources currently available in the market. Consequently, there is an urgent need to find new sources of FA.</p> Methods <p>We utilized bioresource fulvic acid (BFA), which was extracted from corn straw composting products, and mineral fulvic acid (MFA) for soil amendment and rice growth experiments. The effectiveness of BFA and MFA in these two aspects was evaluated to explore the potential of BFA replacing MFA.</p> Results <p>The soil amendment tests demonstrated that the application of BFA and MFA improved the physicochemical properties of both black soil and saline-alkali soils. Notably, the pH of the saline-alkali soils decreased by up to 1.15, and the aggregates (&gt; 1&#xa0;mm) of the black soil and saline-alkali soils both increased by over 10%. The rice pot experiment showed that the application of BFA and MFA both significantly increased dry weight, stem diameter, and plant height of rice by over 64% compared to the control group. Meanwhile, the physicochemical properties of the planted soil were improved to a different degree. Additionally, the abundance of Proteobacteria in the rhizosphere soil was observed to increase, while the levels of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria decreased.</p> Conclusion <p>Our study demonstrated that BFA and MFA exhibit similar effects on soil amendment and rice growth, suggesting that BFA has the potential to replace MFA in the future.</p>