【Objective】In red soil sloping cropland, prolonged erosion and tillage disturbance often degrade the pore structure in the plow layer, restricting infiltration and aeration processes and ultimately reducing crop productivity. This study evaluated how four soil and water conservation practices—peanuts grown in high order (CK), vetiver hedges (vetiveria zizanioides) (H), straw mulching (M), and their combined application (HM)—affect plow-layer pore structure, and quantified the relationships between pore structure characteristics and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and air permeability (Ka). 【Method】A 15-year field experiment was conducted on red soil sloping cropland. Intact soil cores from the plow layer were scanned using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (CT) to characterize pore structure under CK, H, M, and HM. Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and air permeability (Ka) were measured the same cores to assess water and gas transport and to relate functional properties to CT-derived pore metrics.【Result】Compared to CK, HM significantly increased macropore porosity (>60 μm), the largest connected macropore porosity, hydraulic radius, porosity of pores >150 μm, mean pore diameter, and global connectivity by 79.0%, 113%, 30.2%, 112%, 51.2%, and 54.4%, respectively (P < 0.05). HM also significantly increased biopore porosity and maximum biopore diameter by 129% and 80.0%, respectively (P < 0.05). Straw mulching alone (M) significantly increased Ks by 5.46% (P < 0.05), whereas H and HM treatments significantly increased Ka by 8.15% and 9.02%, respectively (P < 0.05). Ka was positively correlated with macropore porosity, the largest connected macropore porosity, hydraulic radius, porosity of pores >300 μm, and critical pore radius (P < 0.05). Among biopore parameters, Ka was positively correlated with biopore porosity and biopore length density (P < 0.05). 【Conclusion】Long-term integration of vetiver hedgerows (vetiveria zizanioide) with straw mulching substantially improved plow-layer pore structure and enhanced soil air permeability in red soil sloping cropland, providing practical evidence to support optimized soil and water conservation and plow-layer structural improvement in this region.