Detailed Explanation of Sexual Propagation and Seed Production Techniques for Wild Gastrodia elata

Guizhou is the third largest province in China for the production of Chinese medicinal materials and has been approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a national base province for the modern science and technology industry of Chinese medicine. Chinese medicinal materials are an important pillar industry of our province, and Yinjiang has become one of the first batch of Chinese medicinal materials base counties in our province. In order to fully and rationally utilize the advantages of Chinese medicinal material resources and convert the very abundant wild Gastrodia elata in Yinjiang into economic advantages as quickly as possible, the principle of "sexual propagation and sowing technology for Gastrodia elata seeds" successfully researched by Professor Xu Jintang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was introduced, and indoor seed production and cultivation were carried out at the home of villager Zeng Jiyong in Luochang Township. After pollination, they were planted outdoors. The summary is as follows:

I. Materials and Methods

1. Material selection. Wild Fanjing Gastrodia elata "jianma" tubers, bricks, wooden (paper) boxes, river sand, germination fungi, disinfectant solution, tweezers, fungus sticks, fungus branches, plastic bags.

2. Seed production method. In mid-March 2002, 645 high-quality wild Fanjing jianma tubers (individual fresh weight 200-450 grams) were selected and sown indoors at a spacing of 25 x 25 sq cm in boxes filled with disinfected river sand and mud (box specifications: length 4.0 m, width 1.0 m, thickness 0.2 m, built with bricks). After 30 days of dormancy, they emerged from the soil after 20 days, grew stems and moss, budded and flowered. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., cross-pollination was carried out according to operating procedures. After the seeds matured, they should be immediately sown with germination fungi (because Gastrodia elata seeds have no endosperm for storing nutrients), sowing 0.5 kg of germination fungi.

II. Results and Analysis

1. Seed production effect. Of 645 jianma tubers sown, the actual number of surviving jianma plants harvested was 613, with a success rate of 95%. A total of 31,900 capsules were harvested, with a total weight of 4,060 grams, a single-plant capsule weight of 6.6 grams, and an average of 52 capsules per plant.

2. Outdoor cultivation effect. On November 23, 3 random samples of the sown Gastrodia elata seeds were observed, showing that the small Gastrodia elata tubers grew well and grew vigorously on the fungus material.

III. Summary and Discussion

1. The success of sexual seed production of wild Gastrodia elata and the establishment of a seed tuber base have solved the problems of severe variety degeneration, low gastrodin content, poor quality, and gradually declining yield in asexual propagation, and have greatly improved the market competitiveness of Gastrodia elata.

2. Using sexual propagation of wild Gastrodia elata, the cultivated Gastrodia elata is of good quality, helps move toward the standards of the scientific and technological industrialization of Chinese medicinal materials, speeds up industrialization, and can embody products with local characteristics, realizing a leap in the characteristic economy.

3. The establishment of a Gastrodia elata seed base can greatly meet the seed supply requirements for developing commercial Gastrodia elata and at the same time drive the development of surrounding townships.

4. Gastrodia elata production has the characteristics of not occupying cultivated land, a short production cycle, quick results, simple production, low investment, and high economic benefits. It is an effective way for rural areas to shake off poverty and become prosperous.