How should sesame be planted to increase yield?

Sesame is a fairly commonly used food ingredient in our daily lives, but its uses go far beyond being just a food ingredient; it can also be used as feed, fertilizer, vegetable oil, and so on. Sesame has quite high nutritional value, and its economic value on the market is also very good, with relatively high demand. However, in many cases sesame yields are not high, so next let me introduce to you how to increase sesame yield.

1. Land preparation and seed selection

Sesame does not have high requirements for the land it is planted in, and land that is often used to grow sesame will also become more fertile. However, when preparing the land, we need to loosen the soil, level the land, remove weeds, then dig the soil to make ridges and open drainage ditches, so that we can properly control the water needed during sesame's growth. For seed selection, choose excellent varieties, that is, seeds with good overall qualities such as strong suitability, strong resistance, and high yield. Good varieties are the most basic requirement for high yield.

2. Sowing methods

There are generally two ways to sow sesame. The first is double-layer sowing, which means first scattering one layer of seeds in a piece of land, covering them with soil, then scattering a second layer of seeds and covering them in the same way. This method has an advantage: when the weather is relatively dry, the first layer of seeds can absorb underground moisture and germinate to grow seedlings, while the second layer of seeds can fully grow seedlings when it rains. When the seedlings grow to five or six centimeters, they can be transplanted. The second method is to simply scatter seeds directly in the field at a certain spacing, but this will lead to the need for thinning, so timely replanting of missing seedlings is necessary.

3. Field management

Field management means fertilizing, weeding, and some daily small tasks, but for sesame these are major matters. If not handled well, that can mean serious yield reduction. The first fertilization is after transplanting or when the seedlings grow to five to ten centimeters, in order to promote seedling growth. The second fertilization is at flowering, and at this time the nutrients required are also the greatest, so the nutrients in the soil must be replenished in time. At this point, apply nitrogen fertilizer to the soil and combine it with foliar spraying of phosphorus, potassium, and boron fertilizers. About one week after flowering, topdress with potassium dihydrogen phosphate. When the main stem grows to a certain height, remove the terminal bud, because it consumes the most nutrients, so in order to reduce unnecessary nutrient consumption, it should be removed in time.

4. Disease prevention

Sesame is prone to leaf blight and cutworms, so we need to treat them in time. Leaf blight can cause the whole plant to wither and die, with very serious consequences, and cutworms especially like to eat sesame, so to ensure yield, it is better to get rid of them as soon as possible.

5. Timely harvesting

Harvesting sesame is relatively critical. If harvesting is too late, the sesame capsules will already have split open, and then all the sesame will fall to the ground. By the time you harvest, basically very little will be left. At the same time, it should not be harvested too early, when the sesame is not yet mature. So the most suitable time to harvest is when most of the sesame's leaves have turned yellow and fallen off and the capsules at the very bottom have slightly split open.