How promising is Bletilla striata cultivation? The latest analysis is here

Bletilla striata is a wild third-category minor medicinal herb, and with the impact of the market economy its resources are gradually being depleted. The contradiction between supply and demand and the steadily climbing price have also begun to attract widespread attention. Below, the editor will introduce the cultivation prospects and cultivation benefits of Bletilla striata!

Cultivation prospects of Bletilla striata

1. Resource output. Bletilla striata, also known as Gan Gen, Bai Gen, Bai Wu Er Tou, Yang Jiao Qi, etc., is an orchid family plant. The tuber of Bletilla striata is irregularly flat-round, with 2~3 claw-like branches, and its surface is yellowish-white or grayish-white. It belongs to a rare species. In China it is mainly distributed in Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Zhejiang and other places, with the main production areas in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. The detailed production areas are: the Xichang area of Sichuan, such as Muli Tibetan Autonomous County, with the main distribution center being the Hehuachi medicinal materials market in Chengdu, Sichuan; Wenshan, Simao, Lijiang and Chuxiong in Yunnan; Dushan, Zunyi and Anshun in Guizhou; while the Huaihua area of Hunan, the Enshi area of Hubei, the Shangluo and Hanzhong areas of Shaanxi, and the Funiu Mountain area of Henan also provide supply to the market, but in very small quantities. Bletilla striata grows in warm and humid valleys or on the shady sides of mountains, and has a long growth period. Once over-harvested, it takes a very long time to restore its output. In recent years, large-scale harvesting by people has led to a sharp decrease in the distribution areas of Bletilla striata, which has already caused a serious shortage of Bletilla striata resources and a gradual decline in output. At present, the supply of Bletilla striata on the market is extremely scarce, and most of the medicinal materials are small in size, with few large ones, high moisture content and poor quality. The harvesting locations are also getting farther and farther away, the difficulty of harvesting is increasing, the number of harvesters is decreasing year by year, and the cost is therefore continuously rising. Tracking the production areas has revealed that this year's supply is far less than last year's, and the gradual rise in the price of Bletilla striata is also an inevitable trend and a matter of course.

2. Social inventory of Bletilla striata. Although the market is mainly concentrated from July to October, in fact Bletilla striata can be harvested at any time except winter, which prevents many people from hoarding this goods. Even if they hoard it, merchants will consider the cost issue, because once it is stored in a warehouse, its storage costs will continuously increase over time, and the cost will naturally rise accordingly. If the price increase is not large enough to generate profit, then naturally no one will be willing to hoard and store it. A few years ago, due to tight funds in the pharmaceutical sector, the purchasing work for Bletilla striata was neglected, causing its inventory to decline. When manufacturers needed large quantities, there was often no goods available on the market, and sometimes the market even showed the abnormal phenomenon of “price available but no goods”. At present, the social inventory of Bletilla striata is relatively weak. As demand rises, the intensifying contradiction between supply and demand will inevitably lead to an upward float in the price of Bletilla striata.

3. Market demand. It is cold in nature, bitter, dry and astringent in taste, and has the functions of astringing to stop bleeding, reducing swelling and promoting tissue regeneration. It is a good medicine for treating stomach diseases. For example, the relatively popular “Kuaiwei Tablets” commonly taken by patients use Bletilla striata as the largest raw material variety; the “Bletilla striata granules” and oral liquid produced from single-ingredient Bletilla striata have significant curative effects and have had good sales after coming onto the market, and manufacturers accordingly have a relatively large annual demand for Bletilla striata. In addition to treating stomach diseases, Bletilla striata is also widely used as an adhesive in industrial production. For example, in cigarette production, the cigarette tip uses Bletilla striata as an adhesive, and the adhesive used for mounting calligraphy and paintings is also made from Bletilla striata. In addition, Bletilla striata polysaccharide gum can also be applied to daily chemical products, replacing chemical thickeners, and has functions such as reducing irritation, protecting the skin, and delaying aging. With continuous in-depth research and development and utilization, the scope of application of Bletilla striata is becoming wider and wider, which has also led to an increasing demand for Bletilla striata. According to 2014 statistics, the annual domestic usage can reach several thousand tons.

Market forecast for Bletilla striata

In 1992 it was 4.8 yuan per kilogram, and by 2015 it had risen to about 600 yuan per kilogram, rising all the way. Especially in recent years, as traditional Chinese medicine has been recognized by the international market, the price has soared all the way. At present, the supply of Bletilla striata still basically relies on harvesting wild resources. Since 2014, the supply of goods in the market and production areas has already been seriously insufficient, making it unsuitable to organize supply. At present, it is hard to find planting bases of even ten mu anywhere in the country. If Bletilla striata is to be developed enough to supply superior-grade goods on the market, even the shortest period would have to be more than three years. For this reason, it can be foreseen that within the next 4-6 years, the market for the Chinese medicinal material variety Bletilla striata will continue to rise, which is shocking!

The market demand for Bletilla striata is huge, wild resources are depleted, and artificial cultivation has not yet matured. Things are precious when they are scarce, so developing Bletilla striata cultivation as a Chinese medicinal material will yield substantial benefits.

Benefit analysis of cultivating Bletilla striata on a 100-mu scale

1. Input: The input for Bletilla striata is divided into four aspects: seeds, fertilizer, management and others:

① Seeds: asexually propagated seeds. The dosage per mu is 300 jin, and the market price is 80 yuan per jin, requiring an input of 100*300*80=2400000 yuan; sexually propagated seeds (tissue-culture acclimatized seedlings), 8000 plants per mu, at a market price of 2 yuan per plant, requiring an input of 100*8000*2=1600000 yuan.

② Fertilizer. It is estimated that 200 yuan of fertilizer is needed per mu per year, requiring an input of 100*200*4=80000 yuan.

③ Management wages. It is estimated that 400 yuan needs to be invested per mu per year, requiring an input of 100*400*4=160000 yuan. Fourth, other expenses require about 100000 wan.

④ Total input: 1940000 (1.94 million) -- 2740000 (2.74 million) yuan.

2. Benefits

① The yield of fresh Bletilla striata per mu is 2000--4000 jin, and the market price of fresh Bletilla striata is about 45--50 yuan per jin (2014 market conditions), with an estimated benefit of 100*2000--4000*45--50=9000000 (9 million) -- 20000000 (20 million) yuan.

② The net benefit of 100 mu is: 6.26 million yuan -- 18.06 million yuan, and the net benefit per mu per year is 15,600 yuan -- 45,150 yuan.

③ Changes in the market, the influence of climate and the level of management directly affect the benefits, so the above data are for reference only.