Key Cultivation Techniques and Planting Management Methods for Cumin

CuminBelongs to the Apiaceae family (Umbelliferae), Cuminum genus, an annual herbaceous plant. It is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine. Besides medicinal use, the fruit (seed) is also used for seasoning and making spices. The cumin plant height is 28-45 cm, with strong adaptability. It prefers a warm and dry climate, is cold-tolerant and warmth-loving, and avoids waterlogging, saline-alkali soil and continuous cropping. It is not suitable to apply excessive farmyard manure and nitrogen fertilizer, to prevent excessive vegetative growth causing lodging. The three counties (districts) in the plain area of Zhangye City, Gansu Province are most suitable for planting, and Shandan, Minle and Sunan also have some planting.

I. Land Selection and Preparation

1. Crop rotation selection and land preparation: For cumin planting, choose sandy loam or loam with good ventilation, deep soil layer, loose soil texture, medium or above fertility, and low saline-alkali content. The previous crop should preferably be wheat, corn, tomato or cotton, and flax and melons should be avoided. After the previous crop is harvested, plow the land deeply. In autumn, combine autumn plowing with harrowing and leveling to preserve soil moisture, and irrigate with autumn water or winter water. In early spring of the next year when the soil thaws, prepare the land. The plot size should preferably be about 1 mu; plots exceeding 1.3 mu should have movable ridges added, forming a “” shape. The ground surface is required to be level, with fine, soft soil and no clods. If there is a large drop between the water inlet and the plot, open a lateral canal along the water inlet, so that during irrigation water enters the field through multiple outlets along the lateral canal, to slow the water flow speed and ensure uniform irrigation. At the corners of the field, prepare sufficient clean sand that is fine-grained, free of saline-alkali and free of weed seeds (8-10 cubic meters/mu).

2. Scientific fertilization: Combined with autumn plowing and land preparation, apply 3-4 cubic meters of farmyard manure per mu. Before sowing, combined with spring land preparation, apply 10-20 kg of diammonium phosphate per mu at one time, or 40 kg of superphosphate, and harrow to a depth of 25 cm. For plots with many weeds, 7-10 days before sowing, use 200 g of 48% butralin emulsifiable concentrate per mu, add 30 kg of water and spray on the soil surface, then promptly harrow it into the soil to kill weeds. To prevent diseases, 2-3 days before sowing, use 50 g of Lüheng No. 1 per mu, add 30 kg of water, spray on the soil surface, and harrow deeply 10-20 cm for soil treatment. For applying pesticide in the soil, the solution can also be sprayed onto fine sand to make medicated sand; the sand should be dry or wet to the extent that it does not clump when squeezed by hand and released. Spread it evenly on the soil surface and harrow and level it. Absolutely avoid uneven pesticide application or excessive dosage, to prevent phytotoxicity injuring seedlings.

II. Seed Selection and Sowing

1. Variety selection: Currently, the varieties planted in Zhangye City include ** large-grain and local varieties retained by local farmers. When purchasing ** large-grain seeds, choose seeds that are dark green in color, plump, well-matured, with a germination rate above 80%, free of impurities, free of pests and diseases, purchased through formal channels and with official invoices. For farmer-retained seeds, select excellent seeds with bright color, good disease resistance (select healthy seeds from heavily diseased fields), strong growth vigor, robust plants, many fruit spikes, large and plump grains, and natural maturity. To kill some seed-borne pathogens and promote early emergence, before sowing soak the seeds in warm water at 50-55°C for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, remove the blighted grains and impurities floating on the surface, then soak at room temperature for 8-12 hours, remove the seeds that sink to the bottom, dry the surface moisture, mix well with sand, and then sow.

2. Sowing at the appropriate time: In the plain area, cumin is generally sown at the end of March, and in the first- and second-class areas of Minle and Shandan it is generally sown in early April. There are 3 sowing methods, and any one can be chosen according to conditions. First, broadcasting: on a windless day, manually spread the seeds evenly on the soil surface, then cover with sand 1-1.2 cm. If soil moisture is poor before sowing, irrigate once after covering with sand, and when the surface turns white, loosen the topsoil to favor full emergence. Second, drilling: first mix the seeds and sand thoroughly, put them into the seed box, then sow in rows with a seeder. To ensure sowing quality, control the sowing depth at 2-2.5 cm, with a row spacing of 10-15 cm, and harrow and level the soil surface after sowing. Third, plastic film planting: use 1.45 m plastic film, lay the film 5-7 days before sowing so that soil moisture is sufficient and the film adheres to the ground, and use manual roller-barrel hole sowing, with a hole depth of 1.3-2.5 cm and a hole spacing of 10 cm. The effective film surface is controlled at 1.3 m, with 1 row of sugar beet planted in the middle and 4 rows of cumin on each side, totaling 8 rows, with a row spacing of 15 cm. After sowing, cover the holes with sand, which can ensure seed germination and also ensure that the holes and film openings do not become misaligned. For the above methods, the seeding rate is all controlled at 1.5 kg/mu. To provide appropriate shading, improve land utilization and increase benefits, cumin can also be intercropped with crops such as corn, fennel and bupleurum.

III. Field Management

1. Timely and appropriate irrigation: After sowing, if it is autumn-sanded land, irrigate with establishment water in time. If it is winter-water land with sufficient soil moisture, irrigation may be omitted. After emergence, irrigate the first water at the 2-leaf stage; the water should be sufficient, with no standing water in the field 2-3 hours after irrigation as the standard. Irrigate the second water at the full flowering stage, with less water than the first irrigation, with no standing water in the field 1-2 hours after irrigation as the standard. Irrigate 2-3 times in total during the whole growth period. Avoid prolonged drought followed by heavy irrigation and irrigation before rain. In summer high temperatures, strictly prohibit flood irrigation and long-term standing water after irrigation. Follow the principles of multiple outlets, small plots, small water and shallow irrigation, and irrigation at low temperatures in the morning and evening. Absolutely avoid low-lying standing water in the field and rapid flow-through irrigation.

2. Rational topdressing: According to the growth of cumin, apply appropriate topdressing. After the seedling stage and before flowering, choose any one of liquid fertilizers such as 1000-fold dilution of Plant Power 2003, 750-fold dilution of Gaomeishi, and Landa liquid micro-fertilizer for foliar spraying, to promote robust plant growth and enhance stress resistance, spraying 2-3 times consecutively with an interval of 7-10 days. If the plants turn yellow and grow weakly, ammonium nitrate can also be applied as topdressing at 10-12 kg per mu combined with irrigation.

3. Weeding and thinning: After cumin emerges and turns green, if there are many weeds in the field, carry out timely manual weeding; generally weeding should be done 2 times during the whole growth period. Combined with weeding, pull out all yellow seedlings, diseased seedlings, weak seedlings and some seedlings in densely growing areas, so that healthy plants are evenly distributed, the field is ventilated and receives light, individual development is good, and population yield is improved. It is better to maintain 300,000-400,000 seedlings per mu. When the density exceeds 500,000 plants/mu, yield shows a downward trend as density increases.

4. Disease control: During rainy periods and poor drainage, open ditches in time to drain water to prevent root rot. When root rot is found, spray 50 g of Lüheng No. 2 wettable powder or 150 g of thiophanate-methyl wettable powder per mu mixed with 30 kg of water, spraying once every 7-10 days, 2-3 times consecutively. Do not use any pesticide 7-10 days before harvest, and strictly prohibit the use of highly toxic pesticides throughout the entire growing season.

IV. Timely harvest. Around July 10, when the plant needles turn yellow, the stems turn white, the grains are plump and well-matured, it can be harvested. At harvest, manually pull up the entire plant by the roots, shake off the soil, tie into small bundles, then transport them in a concentrated manner to the threshing site, and dry in the sun for 1-2 days until 70-80% dry, then thresh and harvest.