Where does yacon grow? A guide to its growing environment

Yacon is a fruit that is especially rich in water. It can not only be peeled and eaten directly, but can also be used in cooking, and it has high nutritional value. So, where does yacon grow?

1. Where does yacon grow?

Yacon is native to the mid-to-high plateau areas of the Andes Mountains in South America, from north-central Chile to Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. It has also been introduced and cultivated in New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Europe and other places. In China, it has also been introduced and cultivated in Yunnan, Fujian, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Taiwan, China, Hainan, Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian in Liaoning and other places.

2. Cultivation techniques for yacon

1. Land preparation

Choose a plot of neutral or slightly acidic sandy loam with convenient drainage and irrigation, fertile soil, deep soil layer (about 50 cm or more), and organic matter content of 15% or more. When preparing the land, it is required to be fine, even and loose, creating deep and loose soil conditions to improve the soil's permeability, water storage, fertilizer retention and drought resistance, which is conducive to full root growth and development and tuberous root expansion. In the year before planting, deep plow about 30 cm in winter, expose to the sun until white, open deep furrows and make beds. Make wide beds in plots with good drainage, and make narrow beds or high beds in plots with poor drainage (bed height 35-40 cm, width about 100 cm, furrow width about 40 cm).

2. Planting

Use single-row planting, with a row spacing of about 140 cm and a plant spacing of about 50 cm, and a planting density of 900-950 plants per mu. When applying base fertilizer, open a furrow about 20 cm deep in the center of the bed, evenly sprinkle a layer of quicklime in the furrow, and then apply the base fertilizer in a concentrated manner. Use 1 kg of commercial organic fertilizer and 0.5 kg of plant ash per hole for the base fertilizer. After applying a thin layer of soil on the surface of the base fertilizer, transplant the seedlings and water thoroughly to settle the roots.

3. Tending

Fertilizer and water management: Yacon needs less water in the early stage of growth. In the middle and late stages of growth, as the tuberous roots expand, the water requirement increases sharply, so it should be irrigated in time. Fertilization is mainly based on base fertilizer, with appropriate topdressing of potassium fertilizer. When the tuberous roots expand, combine cultivation and earthing up, and apply 50 g of potassium sulfate per plant as topdressing, carry out cultivation and weeding in time, and pay attention to earthing up and ridging, and do not leave the expanded roots exposed above the soil surface.

Pruning and pinching: When the yacon stem grows to 1 m high, some tiller branches will appear, and excess branches should be removed; plants that grow too vigorously also need to be pinched to control excessive aboveground growth and promote tuberous root expansion.

4. Harvesting

There is not yet a legal maturity standard and harvest period for yacon, but in production, the timing of harvest is closely related to its yield, storage, seed retention, processing and utilization, and crop rotation. Because the tuberous roots are juicy and tender, harvesting too early makes them prone to cracking, reduces quality, and increases the rate of cracked tubers. It is advisable to dig them up successively in early December after the soil is slightly dry and the tuberous roots have naturally lost water, which can reduce the rate of cracked tubers; harvesting too late makes them prone to cold damage.

5. Seed retention

After yacon is dug up, cut off the seed ball buds. After the wounds dry, apply a 75% potassium permanganate solution, or soak them in a 10000-fold potassium permanganate solution for 3 minutes. After taking them out, bury them in wet river sand in a cellar or store them temporarily indoors without freezing damage, with the bud eyes facing up. Wait until February-March of the following year, uncover the river sand, and when the seed buds are about 4 cm long, they can be planted (each place should decide according to the temperature).

Yacon not only has high nutritional content, but also has medicinal value, and its yield is also good, making it very suitable for farmers to grow.