Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for High-Yield Cultivation of Gorgon Nut

Gorgon nut, also known as chicken-head rice, red lotus seed, chicken head, chicken-head seed, etc. Its seed kernel is used medicinally and has functions such as tonifying the kidney and astringing essence, strengthening the spleen and stopping diarrhea, and calming the mind. It mainly treats symptoms such as diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, spermatorrhea and involuntary emission, frequent and urgent urination, and leukorrhea. Because it contains large amounts of starch, protein, fatty oil, vitamin C and trace elements, it is an excellent product for both medicinal and culinary use. The main producing areas are Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan and other provinces.

Morphological Characteristics

It is an annual aquatic herbaceous plant of the water lily family. The whole plant is very spiny. The leaves float on the water surface, are round-shield-shaped or shield-shaped-cordate, mostly wrinkled on the upper side, with the edges folded upward into a shallow dish shape, green on the surface, purple on the underside, and spiny on the veins. The flower stalk extends above the water surface, bearing 1 terminal flower, purplish red, opening by day and closing at night; 4 sepals, persistent, purple inside and green outside; petals numerous; ovary 8-loculed, embedded in the enlarged receptacle, stigma disc-shaped. The fruit resembles a chicken head, covered with sharp spines on the outside, spongy inside, containing 20-100 seeds, seeds spherical, seed coat hard, aril fleshy, endosperm white and farinaceous.

I. Growth Habits Gorgon nut prefers a warm, humid aquatic environment with ample sunlight. It prefers growing in ponds with fertile water quality, reservoirs, pits and ditches with continuously flowing water throughout the year. The water depth should often be maintained at 60—150 cm, and growth is better when the bottom is loose clay mud. Cultivation on overly fertile or overly poor clay soil results in low yields. Cold-water ponds that are excessively acidic are not easy to plant.

II. Land Preparation and Fertilization Select inland rivers close to water sources and convenient for irrigation and drainage, ponds, or fields or rice fields where the bottom soil is humus and fertility is medium, and carry out intensive cultivation. In combination with land preparation, apply sufficient accumulated fertilizer, applying 5000 kg of farmyard manure per mu.

III. Sowing Gorgon nut is propagated by seed. The sowing period is divided into autumn sowing and spring sowing. Autumn sowing is in August—September, and spring sowing is around Qingming. When sowing, wrap the seeds in sticky mud and sow them into the pond mud at a row spacing of 1.5×1.2 m, placing 2—3 seeds per hole.

IV. Field Management After sowing gorgon nut, maintain the water depth of the bed surface at 60—100 cm. After the gorgon nut seedlings emerge uniformly, attention should be paid to intertillage and weed control to facilitate the growth of the gorgon nut seedlings. The key to a high yield of gorgon nut is regulating the water level: that is, it should be shallow in spring, generally maintaining a water depth of 100—120 cm; in winter, the water storage depth should be maintained at about 50 cm. This allows the seeds scattered on the pond bottom in autumn to overwinter safely, so as to achieve bumper harvests year after year.

V. Pest and Disease Control Gorgon nut has relatively few pests and diseases. The main pest is aphids, which can be killed by spraying with Mieyajing.

VI. Harvesting and Processing The flowering and fruiting period of gorgon nut is relatively long, and the fruit ripening period is not uniform. Generally in August—September, when the fruits turn reddish brown, harvest them in batches. Remove the outer skin of the harvested fruits, take out the seeds, dry them in the sun, then crush open the hard shells, and remove all fruit shells and impurities to obtain the commercial product. The yield per mu is 100—150 kg.