Intercropping with Chinese medicinal herbs: which varieties are suitable for planting in orchards and woodland?

Intercropping Chinese medicinal herbs under the canopy not only makes full use of light, soil fertility and space and suppresses weed growth, but also increases the early returns of young orchards. Of course, not just any Chinese medicinal herb can be intercropped in an orchard; selection must be strict, otherwise it is easy for both to be “ruined together”! So which Chinese medicinal herbs can be intercropped in orchards or woodland?

1. Regionally advantageous varieties

Chinese medicinal herbs have certain regional advantages, so choose herbs with local characteristics that also have an advantage in sales. For example, farmers in Shanxi intercorp Isatis root (Isatis indigotica) and red Salvia miltiorrhiza in walnut orchards; Daxing County in Beijing intercrops chrysanthemum, purple perilla, Achyranthes bidentata and Psoralea corylifolia in pear orchards; Jingxing County in Hebei Province intercrops turmeric and Atractylodes macrocephala, chrysanthemum, etc. under apple trees; Yin County in Zhejiang Province plants Salvia miltiorrhiza under pear trees; and Jintang County in Sichuan Province intercrops Gastrodia elata and Ligusticum chuanxiong, etc. in pomelo orchards.

2. Land type

Dryland orchards are only suitable for intercropping drought-tolerant Chinese medicinal herbs, such as Bupleurum chinense, Scutellaria baicalensis, Astragalus membranaceus and Anemarrhena asphodeloides; irrigated orchards can intercrop moisture-loving herbs such as Corydalis yanhusuo, Aconitum carmichaelii and Glehnia littoralis; mountain orchards should intercrop moisture-loving, heat-sensitive herbs such as Coptis chinensis, Codonopsis pilosula, Ophiopogon japonicus and American ginseng.

3. Tree age

When fruit trees are young, you can plant between the rows sun-loving Chinese medicinal herb varieties harvested in 1-3 years, such as Rehmannia glutinosa, Scutellaria baicalensis, Astragalus membranaceus, Cao Hongguang, Polygala tenuifolia, chrysanthemum, Achyranthes bidentata, Isatis root, Cassia obtusifolia, Atractylodes macrocephala, Aconitum carmichaelii and Bupleurum chinense. As the fruit tree canopy grows larger and forms a more shaded environment, plant shade-loving Chinese medicinal herbs, such as Pinellia ternata, Bupleurum chinense, Coptis chinensis, Arisaema consanguineum, Rehmannia glutinosa, Chinese yam and Anemarrhena asphodeloides.

4. Canopy conditions

For fruit trees with dense canopies and leaves, such as peach, cherry, grape, persimmon and apricot, you can intercrop shade- and moisture-loving medicinal materials such as Asarum heterotropoides, Pinellia ternata, Gastrodia elata, Ganoderma lucidum, Coptis chinensis, Panax notoginseng, Arisaema consanguineum, konjac and Polygonatum odoratum; for fruit trees with sparser canopies, such as apple, pear and hawthorn, you can intercrop medicinal materials such as Salvia miltiorrhiza, lily and Asparagus cochinchinensis.

5. Phenological period of the fruit trees

For fruit trees that sprout relatively late, such as jujube and persimmon, you can intercrop medicinal materials that like light but have a summer dormancy habit, such as Fritillaria and Corydalis yanhusuo, Lycoris radiata, etc.; for fruit trees whose fruit ripening period ends before the hottest month arrives, such as peach, apricot and cherry, you can intercrop heat-loving, trampling-sensitive fungal medicinal materials, such as Poria cocos, etc.

When intercropping Chinese medicinal herbs under the canopy, the arrangement ratio should be appropriate, and the crop should be rotated every year or every other year, because continuous cropping easily leads to disease and reduced yields or a lack of some nutrient element. Pay attention to strengthening water, fertilizer and field management to achieve a double harvest of fruit and medicinal herbs!