[Objective] Black land is a valuable land resource, which plays an important role in ensuring food security in the northeast region of China. In order to slow down the erosion and degradation of black soil farmland and improve farmland fertility, new soil management practices need to be developed.[Method] In this study, woody peat and bentonite were added to a typical eroded and degraded black land. The saturated hydraulic conductivity, air permeability and relative gas diffusion, water holding capacity, organic carbon content and crop yield were evaluated by the combination of indoor simulation and field in-situ observation.[Result] The results showed that:under indoor conditions, (1) adding 2% or 4% woody peat decreased the saturated hydraulic conductivity by 14.3% or increased it by 9.9%, increased the air permeability by 18.9% or 4.1%, increased the relative gas diffusion by 15.5% or 6.6%, increased the organic carbon content by 39.4% or 71.5%, and increased the yield of potted maize by 2.0 times or 1.9 times respectively; (2) adding 1% bentonite decreased the saturated hydraulic conductivity, air permeability and relative gas diffusion by 63.2%, 55.3% and 7.6%, and increased the organic carbon content and yield of potted maize by 1.0% and 1.1 times, respectively; (3) adding 2% or 4% woody peat and 1% bentonite decreased the saturated hydraulic conductivity by 65.8% or 73.1%, decreased the air permeability by 33.2% or 32.8%, increased the relative gas diffusion by 0.2% or 4.7%, increased the organic carbon content by 37.8% or 70.6%, and increased the yield of potted maize by 1.9 times or 1.5 times. The saturated hydraulic conductivity, relative gas diffusion, organic carbon content and soybean yield increased by 75.0%, 32.0%, 36.1% and 43.2% respectively, and the air permeability decreased by 45.2% when woody peat was added to the eroded farmland. Also, the saturated hydraulic conductivity, air permeability and relative gas diffusion decreased by 39.1%, 44.4% and 44.0% respectively, while the organic carbon content and soybean yield increased by 3.6% and 4.2%, respectively, when bentonite was added to the eroded farmland. Even though there was no significant difference in organic carbon content and soybean yield; the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, relative gas diffusion, organic carbon content and soybean yield increased by 134.4%, 28.0%, 36.0% and 26.3% respectively, and the air permeability decreased by 38.2% when woody peat and bentonite was added to the eroded farmland. The addition of woody peat and bentonite could improve the water holding capacity of black land soils, and bentonite can retard the decomposition of organic carbon.[Conclusion] In general, the mixed addition of woody peat and bentonite has the best effect, which can effectively improve the soil aeration permeability, water holding capacity, organic carbon content and crop yield, and also help to accumulate organic carbon in the soil. It is an effective measure to rapidly improve the degraded black soil.