How to grow licorice for high yield? A full breakdown of the technical key points

​1. Soil selection. Choose deep soil layers, good drainage, high-lying terrain, and sandy soil and sandy loam soil with relatively high calcium content. Waste flats and waste slopes with slightly alkaline soil and a pH between 7 and 8.5 can all be cultivated. Plots with low-lying terrain and heavy clay soil must not be planted.

​2. Variety selection. Choose the new "Wosheng licorice" variety suitable for artificial cultivation. This variety has the following characteristics: First, strong adaptability, drought resistance, cold resistance, salt-alkali resistance, heat tolerance, and tolerance to poor soil. Its temperature adaptation range is 43 to 45°C. In areas with severe water shortage or relatively dry conditions, no wilting or death has been found, and it can adapt to weakly alkaline calcareous soil. At the same time, it is suitable for intercropping with young forest and fruit trees; second, a short growth cycle. With seedling raising and transplanting, the seedlings grow for 3 to 4 months, and after planting they can be harvested after 8 to 10 months of growth; third, fast growth. Because of its prostrate growth habit, combined with artificial cultivation techniques, it grows horizontally at 30 cm on the soil surface, and its absorption rate of natural conditions such as light, water, and fertilizer is high, so its growth speed is fast. Thirty days after sowing, 3 to 4 true leaves appear. At 60 days, the plant height is 30 cm, the root length can reach 20 cm, and the diameter is 0.5 cm; fourth, harvesting and processing are simple. All operations can be mechanized, less labor is used, and it can be sold after being naturally dried to 80 percent; fifth, high yield and good quality. The yield of medium rough grass per mu is more than 500 kg, and high-yielding fields can reach 800 kg. The skin is red, there are few branches, and the strips are uniform. It meets the standards of the national pharmacopoeia and complies with the germplasm requirements for building a GAP production base.

​3. Sowing and seedling raising. The seedling raising site should be chosen in a relatively flat place with a water source. One fen of seedling land (67 sq m) can plant one mu of land (667 sq m), using 1 kg of seed. When the temperature is stable above 18°C, seedlings can be raised throughout the year. After applying fertilizer to the selected land and plowing and harrowing it fine and even, open shallow furrows 2 cm deep at a row spacing of 25 cm, evenly sow the seeds in the furrows, cover with 1 cm of soil, press slightly, and the seedlings will emerge completely in about 6 days. The seedlings grow for about 4 months, and the roots reach 35 to 40 cm, meeting the transplanting standard.

​4. Cultivation techniques. On the selected land, apply 2000 kg of organic fertilizer, 50 kg of superphosphate, 20 kg of available nitrogen fertilizer, and 10 kg of potassium fertilizer per mu; after plowing and harrowing fine and even, open furrows 6 cm deep at a row spacing of 25 to 30 cm, cut off the stems and branches above the rhizome of the licorice seedlings, remove the lateral roots, place the seedling roots in the furrows in order at a plant spacing of 10 cm, fill with soil, compact, and water. About 20,000 seedlings are planted per mu. They emerge in 7 to 10 days. With conventional management, they can be dug and harvested after 8 to 10 months of growth, or they can be grown for two years before harvest.

​5. Harvesting and processing. In late autumn or early spring, cut off the dried stems and branches above ground, use a tractor with a single plowshare to plow, with a plowing depth of about 30 cm, plowing one row at a time, then manually use a four-tooth rake to clear out the licorice roots plowed up, and then plow the second row. One tractor paired with 6 workers can generally harvest about 8 mu per day. The root damage rate is much lower than that of manual digging, meeting the harvesting requirements. After the harvested licorice roots are dried in the sun for a few days, cut off the rhizome heads and lateral roots and tie them into bundles for sale.

​6. Yield and benefits. Licorice grown for one year yields 400 to 600 kg per mu, and licorice grown for two years can yield more than 1000 kg per mu. The market price of licorice is 8 to 12 yuan/kg, and the income per mu is 3000 to 7000 yuan. Investment per mu: seed cost 186 yuan, fertilizer cost 150 yuan (base fertilizer plus topdressing), pesticide 10 yuan, plowing cost 50 yuan (two times), labor 60 yuan, totaling 450 yuan of investment per mu. Net profit per mu is 2600 to 6000 yuan. If intercropping or relay intercropping is adopted, the comprehensive economic benefit is even higher.