What is the planting prospect of Corydalis yanhusuo? Latest analysis and interpretation

Corydalis yanhusuo is also known as yuanhu, xuanhu, etc. It is warm in nature, pungent and bitter in taste, enters the heart, spleen, liver, and lung meridians, and has the effects of activating blood and resolving stasis, moving qi and relieving pain. It is one of the commonly used varieties of Chinese medicinal materials, with an annual usage of about 5,000 tons, and has very high planting prospects and planting benefits. Let us take a look together below!

Planting prospects of Corydalis yanhusuo

Corydalis yanhusuo is a commonly used variety of Chinese medicinal materials. Its extract contains more than 20 kinds of alkaloids, and its main effects are activating blood and resolving stasis, regulating qi and relieving pain. Because its pain relief is non-addictive, it can also be used for advanced cancer. Its function is similar to that of “Panax notoginseng”. Because Panax notoginseng is very expensive, Corydalis yanhusuo, as its substitute, has continuously increasing market demand. As Chinese medicinal products gradually begin to go abroad, foreign demand for Corydalis yanhusuo is also continuously increasing. Total demand is about more than 20,000 tons, nearly 2 times the production volume.

In recent years, China's Corydalis yanhusuo production and sales have both been strong, and prices have been stable with slight increases. As Corydalis yanhusuo is used more and more widely in the pharmaceutical field, demand continues to increase, and the market prospect is very broad. Corydalis yanhusuo, along with Atractylodes macrocephala, peony, and Fritillaria, are together known as the “Zhejiang Eight Flavors”.

After the price trough appeared in 2002, planting areas in Pan'an, Dongyang, Jinyun and other places in Zhejiang, as well as in Xuanzhou and other places in Anhui and other major southern production areas, gradually shrank. In addition, affected by industrial development and other cash crops, Corydalis yanhusuo production was continuously reduced. However, in Chenggu, Shaanxi, due to suitable ecological environment and relatively low labor costs, economic benefits were relatively prominent, and the planting area expanded year by year. At present, China has basically formed two major production areas centered on Pan'an, Zhejiang and Chenggu, Shaanxi. In 2012, the national annual cultivation area of Corydalis yanhusuo was 104,600 mu, and the annual output reached 12,600 tons.

Planting benefits of Corydalis yanhusuo

1. Pan'an production area: This production area is relatively economically developed, with less land per capita and higher land costs. Few people contract land to plant Corydalis yanhusuo; most medicinal farmers plant it in their own private plots. The costs are mainly incurred for chemical fertilizers and hiring a small number of people for digging. Generally, the cost per mu is about 1,000 yuan. The output per mu is not much different from that of the Hanzhong production area, and most is also processed into dry goods by medicinal farmers for sale, with returns much higher than in the Hanzhong production area.

2. Hanzhong production area

① Planting cost per mu: Medicinal farmers in the Hanzhong production area mostly keep their own seed for planting Corydalis yanhusuo, and few buy Corydalis yanhusuo for planting. Their planting costs mainly occur in sowing, digging, chemical fertilizers, watering, field management, land contracting fees, and other aspects. The total investment per mu is about 2,500 yuan (sowing cost: the production area generally uses machine sowing, about 90-100 yuan per mu. Digging cost: Corydalis yanhusuo digging cannot use machinery and mostly relies on manual digging. One mu requires about 20 labor-hours, costing about 1,500-1,600 yuan. Chemical fertilizers, watering, field management, and land contracting fees total about 900 yuan.)

② Output per mu: The yield of Corydalis yanhusuo per mu is generally 400-500 kg.

③ Income per mu: This year the purchase price of fresh Corydalis yanhusuo is 9-9.6 yuan, total income per mu is about 4,200 yuan, and after deducting costs, the net income per mu is about 1,700 yuan.

Current processing status of Corydalis yanhusuo

1. Zhejiang production area: The Pan'an production area in Zhejiang is the genuine producing area of Corydalis yanhusuo. This production area has a long history of Corydalis yanhusuo cultivation, and its planting and processing techniques are also relatively mature. The purchase price of Corydalis yanhusuo is also somewhat higher than in the Hanzhong production area. In addition, medicinal farmers in this production area mostly process fresh Corydalis yanhusuo into dry Corydalis yanhusuo themselves, so their returns are also much higher than in Hanzhong. In the Zhejiang production area, ordinary medicinal farmers can generally achieve a net income of more than 3,000 to 4,000 yuan per mu.

2. Hanzhong production area: Because the processing and drying of Corydalis yanhusuo is rather troublesome, it needs to be dried in the sun for a day during the day, piled up and heated at night, then spread out again the next day to dry, and after drying for two hours it still needs to be turned over. In good weather it can be dried in seven days, while in poor weather it takes more than ten days. Therefore, medicinal farmers in the production area seldom process fresh Corydalis yanhusuo into dry Corydalis yanhusuo for sale, and mostly sell fresh Corydalis yanhusuo to local processors for processing. The total amount of Corydalis yanhusuo processed by processors is about 70-80% of the total output of Corydalis yanhusuo in the production area. The drying ratio of Corydalis yanhusuo is generally 3.5-3.7:1, which means that to process one kilogram of dry Corydalis yanhusuo, the processor's cost on fresh Corydalis yanhusuo reaches 32-34 yuan. Adding some other costs (such as labor costs), the cost of one kilogram of dry Corydalis yanhusuo is about 37-38 yuan. At present, the purchase price of Corydalis yanhusuo in the production area is 40-41 yuan, and processors can only earn 2-3 yuan per kilogram of Corydalis yanhusuo. For processors, although there is profit to be made, if goods move poorly and the market weakens, capital pressure will also be very great.