The NSFC proposals and grants of soil science in 2021 were analyzed by focusing on the three secondary application codes related with soil science, including D0701 Environmental Soil Science, D0709 Fundamental Soil Science, and D0710 Soil Erosion and Soil Fertility in Environmental Geoscience Discipline. Furthermore, the applications, acceptances, peer reviews, project recommendations, grant funding, research teams and project's scientific attributes for various types of NSFC projects were analyzed comprehensively in order to provide scientific guidance for future applications in the field of soil science.