High-Yield Ginger Cultivation Techniques for a Yield of 10,000 Jin per Mu

AbstractSelect high-quality, healthy ginger tubers free of pests and diseases as seed stock, carry out sun-drying of the ginger and resting of the seed in early March, then carry out fine land preparation and apply sufficient basal fertilizer, soak the sun-dried ginger seed with pesticides such as Jiangwensan and Shengjiangbao, then air-dry and sprout them, and when the ginger sprouts grow to 0.5-1cm, sow them in batches, planting about 6,500-8,000 plants per mu, water reasonably, and when fertilizing, note to apply a light seedling-promoting fertilizer and a heavy branching fertilizer; if harvested after Frost's Descent, the yield can reach more than 12,000 jin.

1. Carefully Select Ginger Seed

About 1 month before sowing, take the ginger seed out of the kiln, wash the soil off the ginger tubers, and select healthy ginger tubers that are plump, full, glossy-skinned, fresh-fleshed, not shriveled, not rotten, not frost-damaged, hard in texture, and free of pests and diseases as seed; generally a single seed ginger tuber weighs 50-75g, and about 400-500kg of seed ginger is used per mu.

2. Sun-Drying and Resting the Ginger

Choose early March, at 8-9 o'clock at noon on a clear day, place the ginger seed on ground with sufficient light to dry, and in the evening collect it indoors and cover it with straw curtains to retain moisture, which helps promote the decomposition of nutrients in the ginger tubers; generally sun-dry the ginger for 2-3 days, then rest the seed for 8-9 days, maintaining a suitable temperature of 10-15℃, which helps promote bud differentiation.

3. Fine Land Preparation and Sufficient Basal Fertilizer

1. Choose plots with fertile soil, good drainage and irrigation, and no ginger blast disease, try to avoid continuous cropping plots, and carry out fine land preparation early in spring; together with this, additional cake fertilizer, organic fertilizer, plant ash, high-quality chicken manure, and manure from livestock pens free of diseased residues may be applied, and along with land preparation broadcast 5,000-10,000kg of high-quality pen manure, or 4 cubic meters of high-quality decomposed chicken manure as basal fertilizer.

2. In plots with sufficient fertilizer and water, open furrows at a row spacing of 60-65cm ready for sowing, and apply 1kg of boron fertilizer, 2kg of zinc fertilizer, 50kg of potassium sulfate, 50kg of ternary compound fertilizer, and 100kg of soybean cake into the furrows as seed fertilizer.

4. Sprouting

1. Soak the sun-dried ginger seed in a 200-times solution of pesticides such as Lüba, Jiangwensan, and Shengjiangbao for about 10 minutes to disinfect it, then remove it, air-dry it, and sprout it.

2. Place the ginger tubers in a basket and surround them with wheat straw for warmth, and sprout them in a shed or a sunny seedbed, maintaining air humidity of 80-85% and a temperature of 22-25℃; it is necessary to keep it high first and then low, and after waiting 20 days, when the ginger sprouts have grown to 0.5-1cm, sow them in batches according to the size of the ginger sprouts.

5. Sowing and Film Mulching

According to the local soil temperature, air temperature, and the time of the last frost, generally when using plastic film cultivation, sowing can be 20-30 days earlier than open-field sowing; before covering with film, 100-150g of a special herbicide per mu is needed, diluted with water and sprayed to control weeds under the film, and a plastic film with a thickness of 0.005-0.006mm and a width of 120mm may be selected.

6. Appropriately Sparse Planting to Enlarge Ginger Tubers

Appropriately reducing planting density helps improve the quality and yield of individual plants; for high-yield plots, the suitable planting density per mu is about 6,500 plants, with a row spacing of 50-55cm and a plant spacing of 25cm; for medium-fertility plots, the suitable planting density per mu is about 8,000 plants, with a row spacing of 45cm and a plant spacing of 20cm; the seeding rate per mu is about 500kg.

7. Timely Shading to Promote Growth

1. When the emergence rate of ginger reaches 50%, timely shading is needed, which helps promote robust growth of the ginger seedlings; shade nets may be used for shading, as their shading is evenly distributed and convenient for later field management.

2. Specific method: the shade net can be made into strip form and stretched between ginger rows, with both ends fixed with bamboo poles, and the width is 60-65cm; during this period, a shade net with a shading rate of 40% may be selected, and it is not suitable to use firewood and grass for shading, because firewood and grass generally carry diseased and pest residues, especially the corn borers overwintering in corn stalks brought into the ginger field, which will increase the number of borers in the ginger field and affect pest and disease control.

8. Apply Light Seedling-Promoting Fertilizer and Heavy Branching Fertilizer

1. From early to mid-June, in combination with watering, supplementary autumn fertilizer may be applied, flushing 25kg of urea per mu with the water; in early to mid-July, remove the plastic film and apply 50kg of ternary compound fertilizer per mu; before August 20, apply a supplementary 30kg of potassium sulfate per mu, and water immediately after topdressing.

2. In mid-September, depending on the growth of the ginger seedlings, a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer or potassium fertilizer may be applied as topdressing, and foliar topdressing may also be carried out; potassium dihydrogen phosphate may be used, sprayed once every 7-10 days, for 3-4 consecutive sprays.

9. Reasonable Watering

1. Ginger likes a moist environment, so the field needs sufficient water; to ensure smooth emergence of ginger, on the basis of watering thoroughly before sowing, usually no further watering is needed before emergence, and watering may be carried out after 70% of the ginger seedlings have emerged, specifically depending on weather conditions, soil texture, and soil moisture status.

2. If watering is too late, it will cause the ginger seedlings to suffer drought, and the buds are prone to drying up; because plastic film has a good moisture-conserving effect, not too much watering is needed during the seedling stage, and generally light watering under the film is suitable; in summer, watering may be carried out in the morning and evening, and it is not suitable to water at noon, while after rain, drainage should be carried out in time; around the start of autumn, ginger begins to enter a period of vigorous growth, and its water demand increases, so it may be watered once every 4-5 days to keep the soil moist.

3. To ensure that ginger sticks to less soil after harvest and is convenient to store, the last watering may be carried out 3-4 days before harvest; after applying sufficient branching fertilizer, according to the growth of the ginger, hilling may be carried out in stages about 2-3 times, to ensure that the growing ginger does not emerge above the soil.

10. Control of Ginger Blast Disease

When ginger blast disease occurs, crop rotation and changing of stubble, digging drainage ditches, and drainage to prevent waterlogging may be adopted, or a 1,500-2,000-times solution of Shengjiangbao, Jiangwensan, Yaofeisu, Lüba, and the like may be used for root soaking; diseased plants found should be pulled out in time, these solutions should be used to treat the soil, and lime should be used to make spot markers; after the ginger is harvested, the soil at this spot should be deeply buried.

11. Control of Pests

Throughout the ginger growing period, the main pests that occur include borers, beet armyworm, and ginger thrips; during this period, agents such as Kuaishaling, imidacloprid, and Yebebisha may be used for spray control, preferably once every 7-10 days.

12. Timely Harvest

1. When the temperature in late autumn is 8-18℃, because of sufficient light and a large temperature difference between day and night, the growing period may be appropriately extended at this time, which helps increase yield; if harvested after Frost's Descent, the average yield per mu can be increased by 30-60kg; harvesting ginger at this time will neither freeze-damage the ginger tubers nor fail to make full use of this key period for late-stage yield increase in ginger, so it should not be harvested too early.

2. To facilitate later storage and the return flow of nutrients, about 3cm of stem may be retained; to increase yield, the method of autumn delay may also be chosen; before the first frost, an arched shed may be set up over the ginger field, then agricultural film may be fastened for protection to delay the harvest, which can extend the ginger growing period by about 20-30 days and increase yield by more than 1,000kg per mu, and the yield per mu can reach more than 12,000 jin.

13. Deep-Well Kiln Storage

1. Ginger may be stored by digging a cellar, which is a method with small investment, easy management, and convenient operation; a deep-well kiln can store about 20,000 jin of ginger, and the cost is only 200-300 yuan; it is usually 5-7m deep, then 2-3 ginger storage caves are dug, and the temperature inside the cellar needs to be maintained at 11-13℃, and the air humidity needs to be maintained above 90%.

2. When putting ginger into a deep-well kiln, the bottom of the cellar needs to be swept clean in time; if it is too dry inside, water may be applied appropriately to keep it moist; when putting it into the kiln, the ginger roots should face downward, and after all have been placed, a layer of white sand should be covered on top to retain moisture, and the mouth of the kiln should be kept open, and sealed before Minor Snow; generally to prevent ginger maggots and maintain the freshness of the ginger tubers, fungicides such as chlorothalonil and carbendazim may be used in advance to sterilize the kiln cave.