Sesame Cultivation Technique Tutorial, Latest Planting Methods Explained
Sesame, also known as zhi ma and hu ma, originated in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau of China. It is an annual upright herbaceous plant of the Pedaliaceae family, genus Sesamum. It is found throughout the world's tropical regions and some temperate regions. It is one of China's main oil crops, with a planting area of about 790,000 hectares and a yield of about 580,000 tonnes or more, giving it high cultivation value. Let us take a look at sesame cultivation techniques together!
Sesame Growing Environment
1. Soil: Because the seeds are small and the root system is shallow, it is best suited to loose soil that is slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6.5-7.5). Loose soil can balance the supply of water, nutrients and air, and is conducive to root extension.
2. Accumulated temperature: Sesame requires an accumulated temperature of 2500-3000 degrees C over the whole growth period, and development is most suitable at an average day-night temperature of 20-24 degrees C.
3. Rainfall: The suitable rainfall over the whole growth period of sesame is 210-250 mm.
4. Sunlight: Sesame needs ample sunlight throughout its whole growth period. Ample sunlight can strengthen photosynthesis, help accumulate nutrients, meet the needs of flowering and fruiting, produce more capsules with full seeds, and favour oil formation.
Sesame Cultivation Techniques
1. Preparing beds and sowing: The furrow is 33 cm wide, the bed is 20 cm high and 1-1.2 m wide; a suitable bed width makes management easier. Dig shallow furrows on the bed surface with a spacing (also the row spacing) of 33 cm. When sowing, because sesame seeds are small and the density is hard to control, they can be mixed evenly with a small amount of dry fine soil before sowing.
2. Chemical weeding: 3 days after sowing, use 60 ml of 60% Hennessy emulsifiable concentrate per mu, dilute with 50 kg of water and spray evenly over the bed surface to reduce weed growth.
3. Timely thinning: After about ten days, when the seedlings have grown 2-3 cotyledons, thin them, and thin again after 5-6 days so that the plant spacing is 22-24 cm and 8000-10000 plants are planted per mu. Suitable plant spacing favours branching.
4. Scientific fertilisation: First, apply sufficient base fertiliser, 1500 kg of farmyard manure per mu. After 3-4 true leaves appear, apply human excrement and urine 1-2 times. The flowering and capsule-setting stage is the most vigorous growth period of sesame and also the peak period of nutrient demand, so apply 10-15 kg of ammonium sulphate per mu as a top dressing, and spray the leaves with a mixed solution of 0.4% potassium dihydrogen phosphate and 0.2% borax, once every 5-7 days, for 2 consecutive sprays.
5. Topping and harvest: After the full fruiting stage, when the leaf nodes at the top of the main stem cluster together and growth has almost stopped, pick off the terminal bud on a sunny morning. When the sesame capsules turn yellow and ripe and the seeds are black, they can be harvested.
Sesame Pest and Disease Control
1. When Fusarium wilt and Phytophthora blight occur at the sesame seedling stage, use 0.5 kg of 50% Yekuling wettable powder per mu, mix with 20 kg of moist fine soil, and apply in bands at the bottom of the furrow (soil disinfection), then sow. Alternatively, when sesame seedling disease is first seen, use 25 g of 25% copper-ammonia complex fungicide Ruikumai per mu, diluted with about 40 kg of water, or spray with 800-1000 times copper sulphate solution or 800 times 80% DuPont Xinwansheng solution, once every seven days, for 2-3 consecutive sprays.
2. Sesame bacterial wilt can occur throughout the whole growth period. Use 50 g of 20% Yeqingshuang wettable powder per mu, or 50 g of 50% carbendazim wettable powder, diluted with about 50 kg of water, and spray. If the disease appears clearly in spots and patches, the fungicide solution can instead be used to drench the roots, giving a better effect. Drenching the roots with 3000 times Lvheng No. 1 solution at the early stage of the disease gives very satisfactory results.
3. Sesame stem spot blight is more severe in the later growth stage. Use 50 g of 50% carbendazim wettable powder per mu, or 500-700 times Lvheng No. 7, or 60 g of 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder, diluted with about 50 kg of water, and spray.
4. The sesame stem borer occurs from the early flowering stage to before harvest, but is more numerous and causes serious damage during the full pod stage. You can target the peak larval period and use 2-3 packets of 3% Kaiou per mu, or 800-1000 times 90% trichlorfon solution, spraying about 50 kg of solution per mu.
5. The sesame hawk moth occurs more in the middle and late stages. You can seize the peak larval period and use 2-3 packets of 3% Kaiou per mu, or 800-1000 times 90% trichlorfon solution, or 1500 times 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate, spraying 50 kg of solution per mu.
6. Sesame mosaic virus diseased plants show mosaic patterns and wrinkling, with twisted and dwarfed stems; they generally do not set seed, or set small capsules with shrivelled seeds, and the mosaic turns yellow as it spreads. Virus-resistant varieties can be chosen, such as Hubei's Baguchai, Suxuan No. 5, Ezhima No. 1, Henan's Zhengzhi No. 1, Xiangyin 55, Liutiaoqing and others, while also paying attention to controlling sesame aphids.