What are the precautions for pest and disease control in Dendrobium officinale?

Chinese medicinal materials are special commodities used by people to prevent and treat diseases. In the production of Chinese medicinal materials, in addition to requiring a certain yield, more attention must be paid to the quality of the medicinal materials. Therefore, in applying the various measures for pest and disease control in Chinese medicinal materials, it is necessary to both control the harm of pests and diseases and avoid reducingDendrobium officinalethe quality of this type of medicinal material, and to avoid damage to Chinese medicinal materials from pesticide residues and other contamination. The agricultural control method is a method of reducing or preventing pests and diseases through a series of measures such as adjusting cultivation techniques. Most of these are preventive, and this method mainly includes the following aspects:

(1) Reasonable crop rotation and intercropping

In the cultivation system of medicinal plants, carrying out reasonable crop rotation and intercropping is very important both for pest and disease control and for making full use of soil fertility. For example: many soil-borne diseases are relatively serious in their harm to ginseng and American ginseng, and land that has been planted with ginseng cannot be planted again within a short period. Otherwise, the disease will be severe, causing large numbers of deaths or the destruction of the entire field. The length of the rotation period is generally determined according to the survival period of the pathogenic organisms in the soil. For example, the rotation period for root rot of Atractylodes macrocephala and wilt disease of Rehmannia glutinosa is 3-5 years. In addition, the reasonable selection of rotation crops is also crucial; generally, plants of the same family and genus, or plants that are also hosts of certain serious diseases or pests, cannot be selected as the next crop. The principles for selecting intercrops should be basically the same as those for rotation crops.

(2) Tillage

Deep plowing is an important cultivation measure. It can not only promote the development of plant root systems and enhance the disease resistance of plants, but also destroy the nests of pests dormant in the soil and the overwintering places of pathogens, directly eliminating pathogenic organisms and pests. For example, before sowing ginseng and American ginseng, the land is required to lie fallow for one year. Plowing and turning for sun-drying are carried out several times to improve the physical properties of the soil and reduce the number of pathogenic bacteria in the soil. This has become one of the important control measures.

(3) Weeding, pruning and garden cleaning

After harvesting medicinal plants, the residues harmed by pests and diseases and the withered branches and fallen leaves dropped in the field are often places where pests and diseases hide and overwinter, and are the source of pests and diseases the following year. Therefore, weeding, cleaning the garden, and, in combination with pruning, burning or deeply burying the pest- and disease-damaged residues and withered branches and fallen leaves of Dendrobium officinale can greatly reduce the severity of pest and disease damage in the coming year.

(4) Adjusting the sowing period

Certain pests and diseases are often closely related to a certain growth and development stage or phenological period of the cultivated medicinal plant. If efforts are made to make this growth and development stage of Dendrobium chrysotoxum miss the dangerous period when pests and diseases spread and cause harm in large numbers, and avoid pest damage, the purpose of control can also be achieved.

(5) Reasonable fertilization

Reasonable fertilization can promote the growth and development of medicinal plants and enhance their resistance and their ability to recover after being harmed by pests and diseases. For example: applying sufficient organic fertilizer to Atractylodes macrocephala and appropriately increasing phosphorus and potassium fertilizer can reduce mosaic disease. However, the manure or compost used must be thoroughly decomposed. Otherwise, the residual pathogens in the fertilizer and the eggs of underground pests (such as grubs, etc.) have not been killed, which can easily worsen underground pests and certain diseases.

(6) Breeding and using pest- and disease-resistant varieties

Different types or varieties of medicinal plants often differ significantly in their resistance to pests and diseases. For example, thorny safflower is more resistant to anthracnose and safflower fruit fly than thornless safflower, and the short-stemmed type of Atractylodes macrocephala is resistant to Atractylodes seed worm, etc. Therefore, how to use these disease- and pest-resistant characteristics to further breed more ideal high-quality, high-yield varieties resistant to pests and diseases is a very meaningful task.