Intercropping soybeans with yew can increase the survival rate

Recently, 2.46 million rooted cuttings of Maire yew (Taxus media) cultivated at a yew nursery in Youxian County, Zhuzhou, Hunan, have been growing rapidly in Tongshan Village, Yajiangqiao Town in that county, and passed expert inspection at the end of August. The nursery's new seedling-raising method of "intercropping with soybeans" has raised the survival rate of yew seedlings to more than 95%.

It is reported that the successful introduction and propagation of Maire yew not only helps protect the precious wild Chinese yew (Taxus wallichiana var. mairei) resources, but also opens up broad prospects for developing this "golden plant."

At present, under the guidance of forestry experts, the nursery makes full use of the idle spaces between the rows of yew seedlings to plant soybeans. The soybean roots add biological nitrogen for the yew to take root and improve the soil, while the soybean plants shade the seedlings, raising the survival rate of the yew seedlings by more than 20 percentage points.

At the same time, in addition to propagating large numbers of Maire yew seedlings, the nursery has also cultivated more than 4 million Chinese yew (Taxus wallichiana var. mairei) seedlings, enough to create more than 30,000 mu of ornamental forests and medicinal forests. After argumentation by experts in our province, the county submitted the nursery as a national agriculture-support investment project.