Introduction to Fritillaria thunbergii Varieties and Their Main Characteristics

Basic information on Fritillaria thunbergii: Fritillaria thunbergii begins its new harvest in May. It prefers a sunny, cool and humid climate, and is afraid of high temperatures, drought and waterlogging. Fritillaria thunbergii has self-incompatibility characteristics, with a low natural seed-setting rate, so seed propagation is generally not used. It is propagated with fresh seed bulbs, planted in October of the Gregorian calendar and harvested in June of the following year. In a normal year, the yield of dried product is about 200 kg per mu.

About 300 kg of fresh mother seed is used per mu. The mother seed contains two embryos. By the time of harvest in the following year, the nutrients of the fritillaria seed planted in the previous year have been drained by the two embryos, leaving only two new fritillaria. Therefore, planting one mother seed produces two offspring; that is, planting one mother seed doubles the yield at harvest the following year, giving a harvest of about 600 kg. Fresh product requires 3 kg or 3.2 kg to process 1 kg of dried product. The production cost is mainly the seed bulbs, generally requiring 20 labor hours, plus other fertilizers, amounting to about 25 yuan at current price levels. Below this level, farmers' enthusiasm for production will be affected.