Which regions are the main Bletilla striata planting bases distributed in?
Bletilla striata is a perennial herb of the genus Bletilla in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). Its tubers are a traditional Chinese astringent hemostatic medicine, and it is also a very good ornamental plant. In recent years, market demand for Bletilla striata has been very strong, and because wild Bletilla striata in most regions of China has been overharvested, developing artificial cultivation is imperative. Let us take a look below at where the Bletilla striata planting bases are!
Where are the Bletilla striata planting bases?
Bletilla striata prefers a warm, shady and humid environment and is widely distributed across the Yangtze River basin in China. Its planting bases are mainly in Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan and other places, but the scales vary. They usually adopt the "company + base + cooperative + factory" model, implementing the business approach of "decentralized cultivation (or decentralized breeding), unified management, unified technology, unified purchasing, unified brand, and unified sales."
Is there a future in planting Bletilla striata?
Bletilla striata has a very wide range of applications. Although artificial cultivation has succeeded in recent years, large-scale planting has not yet taken shape, and wild rhizomes are mostly used as seedlings for planting, resulting in noticeably scarce dried goods supply. This is one of the reasons the price of Bletilla striata has risen in recent years. Although artificial cultivation of Bletilla striata will put great pressure on the future market, there will not be a large influx of supply hitting the market in the short term, and after a period of adjustment it may even continue to trend upward.
What risks are there in planting Bletilla striata?
1. Market risk: In addition to the traditional production areas of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, artificial planting has now begun from Shaanxi and Henan in the north, to Fujian and Guangxi in the south, to Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the east, and to Gansu in the west. Therefore, overheating of production will inevitably create certain risks for Bletilla striata cultivation.
2. Investment risk: Compared with other planting projects, Bletilla striata cultivation requires much greater investment costs, and the growth period is 2 to 3 years. Such investment costs and production cycles are simply beyond the capacity of ordinary farmers to bear, and they also increase investment risk.
3. Seed source risk: The confusion in Bletilla striata seed sources is well known among Chinese medicinal materials. Currently, what circulates in the chemical industry is purple-flowered three-fork large Bletilla striata, while what is mainly used medicinally according to the pharmacopoeia is purple-flowered three-fork small Bletilla striata. Other yellow-flowered and white-flowered Bletilla striata are customary items and counterfeit goods.
4. Technical risk: Bletilla striata seedlings usually must go through introducing seed sources, tissue culture, hardening off, and developing well-grown roots before transplanting. However, because rhizome growth requires an environment with symbiotic fungi and transplanting and management are very delicate, the death rate of seedlings can usually reach 50% or even higher.