Pueraria: A dual-purpose medicinal and edible plant, high-yield creeping cultivation techniques
Puerariais a leguminous vine and a dual-purpose medicinal and edible health product. It has heat-clearing and detoxifying, anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving, and heatstroke-preventing and cooling effects, and has preventive and therapeutic effects on high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, diabetes, obesity, and more. It is one of the commonly used medicinal herb varieties. Over the past two years, a series of foods developed from Pueraria as a raw material, such as Pueraria powder, Pueraria herbal tea, Pueraria vermicelli, Pueraria jelly, Pueraria pastries, and Pueraria beverages, have been highly favored by consumers and sell very well on the market, causing its social demand to increase day by day. Therefore, developing Pueraria production has broad prospects. Farmer friends can, on the premise of finding a sales outlet, introduce and cultivate it according to local conditions.
At present, the methods of cultivating Pueraria vary from place to place, but creeping cultivation gives the highest yield. The key technical points are introduced as follows:
1. Land selection. Pueraria has strong adaptability and does not have strict requirements for land selection conditions. It can even grow in barren gravelly soil, but it grows best in deep, fertile sandy red soil. Therefore, mountain slopes and dryland fields with deep soil layers (soil layer thickness above 80 cm), a slope below 25 degrees, and good drainage should be selected. Low-lying, waterlogged fields are not suitable for cultivating Pueraria.
2. Land preparation. There are two methods of land preparation: pit preparation and trench preparation. Pit preparation is relatively simple, easy to carry out, and saves time and labor. Before digging pits, weeds, shrubs, and miscellaneous vegetation on the mountain site must be cleared, and the land must be fully tilled and loosened to a depth of 15 cm. Then horizontal strips 1-1.5 m wide should be made, and pits 60 cm square should be dug in the strips. The spacing between pits depends on the planting density, generally about 1.5 m. Trench preparation takes more time, but later weeding, loosening the soil, and digging up Pueraria are easier, dense planting is possible, and yields are high. Before digging trenches, the miscellaneous shrubs on the mountain site must likewise be cleared, and the land fully tilled and loosened to remove weeds. Then, according to the terrain, trenches should be dug along contour lines, with a width and depth of 80 cm each, a length that follows the natural terrain, and a trench spacing of 1 m.
3. Applying base fertilizer. After the land is prepared, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied to support the growth of Pueraria. For pit preparation, apply 15 kg of human excrement and urine or livestock manure per pit, or 25 kg of pond mud. For trench preparation, place a thin layer of rice straw at the bottom of each trench and sprinkle some lime powder to help make the soil loose and breathable. Apply human excrement and urine or livestock manure to the excavated topsoil and subsoil, about 5000 kg per 667 sq m. The fertilizer should be applied evenly so that when the topsoil is backfilled, the base fertilizer is fully mixed with the topsoil and subsoil.
4. Topsoil backfilling. After the base fertilizer is applied, backfill the topsoil. During backfilling, the soil clods should be broken up and thoroughly and evenly mixed with the base fertilizer. The backfilled soil should be slightly higher than the ground surface, forming an arched shape.
5. Seedling selection. The quality of the seedlings directly affects the yield and quality of cultivation. When selecting Pueraria seedlings, choose seedlings with swollen, plump nodes and small Pueraria vines. The small Pueraria vines should be short and thick and easy to break, or choose Pueraria seedlings with two nodes, thick and strong branches, plump and swollen nodes, well-developed fibrous roots, and no damage or pests and diseases.
6. Planting. To improve the survival rate of planting, choose cloudy days or light rainy days for planting, and make sure Pueraria seedlings are dug and planted promptly. When planting, according to the size of the Pueraria seedling, dig a slanted planting furrow on the previously prepared Pueraria ridge, then place the Pueraria seedling on the slope, spread out and straighten the Pueraria vines or fibrous roots so that they form an inclined angle of about 30 degrees, fill with soil, pat lightly to compact, and then cover with some broken soil slightly in a steamed bun shape, letting the Pueraria head nodes be buried about 1 cm below the ground. It is suitable to plant 500 seedlings per 667 sq m.
7. Planting time. This depends on the climate and solar terms. In the Jiangnan region, planting from the third month of spring to early April is generally best.
8. Management. (1) Early-stage management. About 5-6 days after planting, Pueraria seedlings will sprout new buds. When they grow to 3-4 rounds of compound leaves, shallow hoeing and soil loosening should be carried out. At the same time, water once with diluted human excrement and urine slightly away from the base of the Pueraria seedlings. Do not pour it on the Pueraria leaves, so as to avoid burning the Pueraria leaves and vines. Repeat this watering every 3-5 days, for a total of 3-4 times, and the Pueraria seedlings will grow vigorously. (2) Mid-stage management. When the Pueraria vines grow to 3-4 m long, apply decomposed pig or cattle manure once, about 1 kg per plant, or apply compound fertilizer once in pits, 100 g per plant, and apply again after 10 days (preferably do not apply chemical fertilizer). Before and after fertilizing, weed and loosen the soil once to keep the Pueraria field free of weeds. By the end of June and early July, the Pueraria vines will basically cover the ground. After that, management is basically pulling weeds to keep the Pueraria field free of weeds, while also preventing damage by livestock and gnawing by wild hares. (3) Late-stage management. After the beginning of spring the following year, weed and loosen the soil once in a timely manner, and apply farmyard manure or compound fertilizer once. By the end of April, the Pueraria vines will cover the ground, and management can be more extensive. (4) Pest and disease control. Pueraria has relatively few pests and diseases. The main issue is that a small number of Pueraria fields continuously planted for many years may develop Pueraria rust, which can be controlled by spraying solutions such as carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl for sterilization.
9. Harvesting. Pueraria is generally dug in autumn and winter 2-3 years after planting. On a sunny day, first cut off the stems and vines, then carefully dig out the tuberous roots and shake off the soil.
10. Processing. (1) Cutting Pueraria slices. After washing the dug fresh roots clean, cut them into thin slices with a fodder chopper (0.2 cm thick), then sun-dry or oven-dry them and store them in bags. (2) Processing Pueraria powder. After the Pueraria roots are dug, first rinse them with clean water, then crush them, put them into a container, add an appropriate amount of water, and stir thoroughly. Then filter through an 80-100 mesh screen. Put the filtrate into a settling tank to settle and separate into layers. The upper layer is the aqueous solution, and the lower layer is Pueraria starch. After standing and settling for 24 hours, release the upper aqueous solution, take out the lower-layer Pueraria starch, and sun-dry or oven-dry it.