The arid climate and human activities affect soil qualities in hilly areas northwest of Shanxi. Variation in plant cover, human activities, and other factors are variation result from different land uses and management practices that influence the soil qualities. In order to better understand the effects of different land management practices on soil qualities, the research carried out in Wuzhai county of Xinzhou city, northwest of Shanxi studied the effects of different land management practices on soil fertility, soil enzyme activity, microbial community structures and diversities, and the relationship between microbial and soil environmental factors, which could support the union of land management and ecological construction. The four land management practices in this research include the alfalfa plot (MX), no tillage plot (MG), conventional tillage (FG), and uncultivated plot (HD). Soil sampling and laboratory analyses were used in this research. The soil organic carbon, soil pH, ₄NH⁺-N and NO₃^--N content, soil phosohatse, invertase, urease, and catalase activities, and soil microbial communities were analyzed in the laboratory. The operational taxonomic units and microbial community diversity were processed by the information software of QⅡME, USEARCH and Uclust. The soil chemical properties, soil enzyme activities and microbial communities were analyzed using statistical SPSS and Canoco to study the effects of different land management practices on the soil qualities. Different land management practices influenced soil chemical properties, enzyme activities, and community structure and diversity of bacteria and fungi. Alfalfa and no tillage plots significantly improved soil nutrients and soil enzymes' activities. Nine and eleven members of Bacteriophyta and Eumycota, respectively, were found in the four land management practices. In Bacteriophyta, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria had the highest abundances, whereas within the fungi, the relative abundance of Ascomycetes was the highest. The analytical data showed that the richness and diversity of microbial communities were the highest in alfalfa and no-tillage plots, however, the richness of microbial communities was high, but the diversity of microbial communities was low, in the uncultivated plot. The result of RDA proves that the pH, ₄NH⁺-N and NO₃^--N content, and catalase activities are the main environmental factors that influenced the bacterial communities, whereas the pH, soil organic carbon content, invertase, urease, and catalase activities are the main environmental factors that influenced the fungal communities. Alfalfa and no tillage can improve soil qualities; they are the two land management practices that are most suitable for northwestern Shanxi.