Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for Intercropping Pinellia ternata (Ban Xia) in Fruit Orchards

Encouraged by the national preferential policy of returning farmland to forest, the production area of fruit tree orchards in rural areas has increased noticeably over the past two to three years. At present, most orchards have grown into shady groves, and because of insufficient light between tree rows, intercropping conventional crops such as peanuts, soybeans, rapeseed, @#@245@#@, and corn results in poor growth, low yields, and poor returns. How to use the open spaces between orchard rows to increase intercropping returns is the issue of greatest concern to many farmers today. In practice, it has been found that intercropping the medicinal herb Pinellia ternata (Ban Xia) in fruit orchards can significantly increase economic income.

Pinellia ternata (Ban Xia) is best suited for intercropping in fruit orchards because it prefers shaded environments. When exposed to direct sunlight during the hot season, the plants tend to suffer from seedling collapse (yellowing and withering of the seedlings), which causes the tubers to stop growing. The lush foliage of fruit orchards in the hot summer provides a natural protective canopy for Pinellia ternata during its period of vigorous growth, creating favorable conditions for normal tuber growth.

Fruit orchards suitable for intercropping Pinellia ternata (Ban Xia) include woody medicinal plants such as Evodia rutaecarpa (Wu Zhu Yu), bitter orange (Zhi Ke), gardenia (Zhi Zi), Magnolia officinalis (Hou Po), Eucommia ulmoides (Du Zhong), Phellodendron amurense (Huang Bai), magnolia flower (Xin Yi), and ginkgo (Yin Xing), as well as fruit trees such as citrus, navel orange, peach, pear, jujube, apple, and grape. Generally, intercropping Pinellia ternata in one mu of fruit orchard can yield about 120 kg of dried product. Calculated at current market prices, its planting returns can be 3 to 5 times higher than intercropping conventional crops. The cultivation key points are as follows:

Sowing: Sowing can be done from March to May in spring. Before sowing, plow the land once. Note that when plowing, a certain distance should be kept from the trees so as not to damage their roots. Along with plowing, apply 3000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer (or 100 kg of phosphate fertilizer and 30 kg of compound fertilizer) per mu of orchard planting area as base fertilizer. Then level and harrow the soil finely, and open shallow furrows on the ground parallel to the tree rows, with a furrow spacing of 15-18 cm and a furrow width of 6-8 cm. Then place tubers in each furrow at a plant spacing of about 10 cm, with the tuber buds pointing upward. After planting, cover with soil, preferably just enough so that the tubers are not visible.

Weeding: Within one or two days after planting the Pinellia ternata tubers, spray 50% acetochlor emulsifiable concentrate in a timely manner, which can inhibit the growth of annual grass weeds. During the plant growth period, if there are many weeds, they can be controlled with quizalofop-p-ethyl or 8% haloxyfop-R-methyl herbicide.

Fertilizing: Because Pinellia ternata has relatively close row spacing, it is inconvenient to apply additional fertilizer after sowing, so sufficient base fertilizer should be applied. When the seedlings are 20 cm tall, apply 10 kg of urea per mu diluted in 1000 kg of water (or dilute human and livestock manure water) and splash it onto the soil surface to promote plant growth, accelerate tuber expansion, and help increase yield.

Disease prevention: Newly planted Pinellia ternata plots have relatively few pests and diseases. Occasionally, leaf spot disease and viral disease may occur, which can be controlled with 1:1:120 Bordeaux mixture and 65% zineb 500-fold solution, respectively.

Harvesting: Pinellia ternata tubers sown in spring can be dug in the autumn and winter of the same year. When the stems and leaves wither and turn yellow, choose a sunny day and carefully dig up the tubers, shake off the mud and sand, and put them into baskets. After bringing them back, separate the fresh tubers by size. Those with a diameter below 1 cm can be kept as seed and stored mixed with moist fine sand. Tubers with a diameter above 1 cm are peeled and sun-dried to become commercial product.