Detailed Explanation of Licorice Cultivation and Grassland Reseeding Techniques
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza) is a wild medicinal and forage plant. Based on its biological and ecological characteristics, adopting agricultural technical measures can break seed dormancy and increase the germination rate; meet the water and nutrient requirements of licorice growth and development, and increase its biomass yield.
1. Licorice cultivation techniques
(1) Seed treatment. Use a rice mill to scratch the seed coat, taking care not to crush the seeds; milling twice gives the best results, and the germination rate can be increased from 30% to over 80%.
(2) Site selection and pre-sowing land preparation. It can be planted on calcareous soils of the sandy land, sand-covered land, and beach land types, with sand-covered land and sandy land giving the best results. The sowing plot should be level, free of clods, and easy to irrigate; combined with basal fertilizer application, apply 5-10 kg of diammonium phosphate per mu.
(3) Sowing. Sowing period from mid-April to mid-June; sowing rate 0.25-0.5 kg per mu; sowing depth 1-2 cm; row spacing 40-50 cm.
(4) Field management. Hoe weeds during the seedling stage to keep the ground free of weed growth; keep the ground moist during the seedling stage, and ensure irrigation during the branching, budding, and flowering stages, with 3-4 irrigations per growing season being appropriate.
(5) Harvesting. After the aboveground part has grown for 2 years, it can be harvested each year to feed livestock, or livestock can be raised by grazing. After the underground part (root) has grown for 4-5 years, that is, when it reaches grade licorice, it can be harvested in continuous strips or by interval digging.
(6) Application results. In the 4th year of growth, the fresh root yield of licorice is 700-710 kg per mu, and the output value per mu is 1100-1200 yuan (1994 purchase price); the carrying capacity of one hundred mu is 15 sheep units.
2. Licorice reseeding techniques
On natural grassland, without destroying the original vegetation, on degraded, sparse, or bare land, broadcast sowing or drill sowing is carried out during the rainy season or under sprinkler irrigation conditions, with a sowing rate of 2-3 kg (seed treatment as above). In the third year after reseeding, the grassland vegetation coverage increased from the original 10%-15% to 60%-80%; the grass yield increased by 4-6 times, of which licorice output accounted for 40%-60%; the licorice root storage per mu reached 200-450 kg.