Introduction to the Variety Characteristics and Cultivation Techniques of Laiwu Large Ginger

Laiwu Large Ginger

Laiwu ginger, also known as yellow ginger or large ginger, is a famous product of Shandong. The producing area is mainly concentrated on both banks of the Wen River and Hui River in western Laiwu. It has long been renowned at home and abroad for such excellent characteristics as large rhizomes, thin skin, bright color, few fibers, fine flesh, strong pungency, delicious taste, rich nutrition and good storability.

Ginger has a wide range of uses. It can not only be used for seasoning, pickling and candying, but can also be processed into ginger juice, brewed into ginger wine, and used to extract ginger oil. It is also an important raw material for incense making and a medicinal material. Therefore, the ancients once praised it as "tea for dispelling dampness" and "the gentleman among vegetables." The Compendium of Materia Medica records that "ginger is pungent, slightly warm, and non-toxic," and that it "dispels wind pathogens and cold-heat, benefits the spleen and stomach, disperses wind-cold, stops vomiting, and treats regurgitation." There is a folk saying, "Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you need not trouble the doctor for a prescription." Ginger sprouts can also be used as filling and stir-fried.

Laiwu ginger is divided into three varieties: purple ginger, sliced ginger and large ginger, with sliced ginger as the main cultivated variety. The ginger rhizome is 20-23 cm long, 8-10 cm wide and 4-6 cm thick, with a single rhizome weighing 400-600 g, and the heaviest reaching 1000 g. The surface is smooth and the interior is yellow. It likes to grow in warm, humid, well-aerated neutral to slightly acidic soil. Generally, the sprouts are bedded around Qingming, sown at Lixia, earthed up around Liqiu, and harvested at Shuangjiang. The growth period is 165 days, with a yield of about 5000 jin per mu, and a maximum of 8000 jin. According to measurements, Laiwu ginger rhizomes contain 8.88% starch, 4.76% soluble sugar, 9.68% crude protein and 3.8% cellulose, and 100 g of fresh ginger contains 0.25 mg of volatile oil (gingerol), all higher than ginger from other places. In 1960, the National Planning Conference on Ginger, Garlic and Scallion of Eight Provinces and Two Municipalities was held in Laiwu, and Laiwu ginger was listed as a famous and precious national product.

Laiwu ginger has a cultivation history of more than two thousand years. The Analects records that "ginger was not removed from the food," which shows that during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, eating ginger in the Qi and Lu region was already very common. The Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People has a section specifically discussing ginger cultivation. Now, the product has shifted from domestic trade to foreign trade and has entered the international market. Because Laiwu ginger has good quality and high yield, more than a dozen provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Qinghai and **, have introduced it for cultivation in large quantities. Countries such as Korea and Pakistan have also used Laiwu ginger as seed ginger, and their introduction has been successful. The year-round ginger planting area reaches 18.79 wan mu, with an average yield of 5000 jin per mu, and an annual ginger output of 43.74 wan tons, accounting for more than 20% of the national annual planting area and 37% of Shandong's planting area. Fifteen series and 35 products have been developed, including ginger juice, ginger sprouts, ginger slices, ginger wine, preserved ginger, ginger powder and ginger candy. Laiwu ginger and ginger products are not only sold well throughout the country, but also cross the seas to enter more than 20 countries and regions, including Japan, South Korea, Western Europe, Africa and South America. The annual number of ginger sprouts entering the Japanese market is as high as 80 million stalks, accounting for more than 90% of the Japanese market.