How to cultivate high yield milk vetch

Chinese milk vetch, also known as Qiao Yao, red flowers, grass seed, native to China. Like warm and humid conditions, there is a certain ability to cold, the whole growth period requires enough water, Chinese milk vetch on the soil requirements are not strict, sandy and clay loam is more suitable. Salt tolerance is poor, belongs to leguminous, Astragalus genus. biennial herb. Chinese milk vetch likes warm and humid climate, suitable temperature for growth is 15-20℃. Moisture tolerance, sowing to germination can not be water shortage, growth and development period bogey water. Drought tolerance is weak, and prolonged drought can promote early flowering of Chinese milk vetch and reduce yield. Chinese milk vetch likes sandy loam or clay loam, and also adapts to calcareous alluvial soil. Poor tolerance, poor growth in clay and poor drainage of low wet fields, or poor fertility and water retention of sandy soil. It is relatively acid resistant and weak alkali resistant, and the suitable pH value is 5.5-7.5. When the soil salt content exceeds 0.2%, it is easy to die.

Characteristics of Chinese milk vetch. Biennial herb, much branched, creeping, 10-30 cm tall, white sparsely pilose. Leaves odd-pinnate, with 7-13 leaflets, 5-15 cm long; petiole shorter than leaf axis; stipules free, ovate, 3-6 mm long, apex acute, base somewhat connate to each other, ciliate; leaflets obovate or elliptic, 10-15 mm long, 4-10 mm wide, apex obtuse or retuse, base broadly cuneate, subglabrous above, scattered white pilose below, shortly stalked. Racemes 5-10-flowered, umbellate; pedicels axillary, longer than leaves; bracts triangular-ovate, ca. 0.5 mm; pedicels short; calyx campanulate, ca. 4 mm, white pilose, calyx teeth lanceolate, ca. 1/2 as long as calyx tube; Corolla purple-red or orange-yellow, flag obovate, 10-11 mm long, apex retuse, base tapering into stipe, wings shorter than flag, ca. 8 mm long, segments oblong, base auriculate, stipe ca. 1/2 as long as segments, keel nearly as long as flag, segments semicircular, stipe ca. 1/3 as long as segments; ovary glabrous or sparsely white pubescent, shortly stipitate. Pods linear-oblong, slightly curved, 12-20 mm long, ca. 4 mm wide, shortly beaked, black, raised reticulate; seeds reniform, chestnut brown, ca. 3 mm. Flowering 2-June, fruiting 3-July.

The main root of Chinese milk vetch is relatively plump, generally buried 40~50 cm. The lateral roots are shallow, so their drought resistance is weak and moisture resistance is strong. Nodules can be attached to the taproots, lateral roots and fine roots on the ground, most of which are on the lateral roots. The stem is cylindrical, hollow, tender and juicy, with sparse velutinous hairs. Cultivated varieties are generally 80 - 120 cm tall, while wild ones are only 10 - 30 cm tall. The leaves are mostly odd-numbered pinnate compound leaves with 7 - 13 leaflets. Leaflets entire, obovate or elliptic. Flowers are umbels, usually axillary, less terminal, often floret 8~10 more, family born in pedicels, arranged into a wheel. Pods biseriate, united into triangles, slightly curved, glabrous, beaked apically. Each pod has 4 to 10 seeds, reniform seeds, smooth seed coat, generally yellow-green. 1000-grain weight 3~3.5 g.

How can Chinese milk vetch be cultivated for high yield?

1. Excavation of "three trenches." Waterlogging in rice field is one of the important obstacles to high yield of Chinese milk vetch. Generally, the outline of "three furrows" shall be opened at the late tillering stage of late rice combined with sunning field, and the compartment ditch, surrounding ditch and main ditch shall be opened according to the standard before sowing. The width of the compartment is 2.7-3 meters, the width of the compartment groove is 24 cm, and the depth of the groove is 30 cm; the width of the surrounding groove and the main groove is 30 cm, and the depth of the groove should break the bottom layer of the plough. 2. Seed treatment. Before sowing, Chinese milk vetch should be treated to improve the germination rate of seeds, make the seedlings neat and sturdy, and lay the foundation for high yield. Sunning seeds: Sunning seeds for 1-2 days in sunny days before sowing, spreading and turning frequently during sunning, so as to achieve consistent sunning degree. (2) Seed selection: seed selection is carried out with 10% saline solution, and dried seeds, impurities and germs are washed out. (3) Seed wiping: Mix 1.5-2 kg of fine sand for every 10 kg of seeds, beat 1-2 times with a rice mill, with a slight heat of the seeds, so that the wax layer on the seed coat can be wiped, which is beneficial to germination after sowing. (4) Soaking: Soaking with 0.2% ammonium molybdate solution for 24 hours, or soaking with decomposed human urine 20% solution for 16 hours, both can make seeds absorb enough water, conducive to germination, and have yield increase effect. (5) Inoculation bacteria: Inoculation of rhizobia is an important measure for increasing yield of new seeds of Chinese milk vetch. Mix 4 grams of bacterial powder with a little water per kilogram of seeds, and avoid direct sunlight after mixing. (6) Seed dressing: Mix 5kg calcium superphosphate and 20- 25kg soil fertilizer evenly per mu, retting for 5-6 days, then mix well with seeds, and sow immediately after mixing. 3. Sowing. The suitable sowing period is from early September to mid-October, which can be flexibly controlled according to local climate and harvest time of previous crops. Sowing rate per mu is 1.5-2 kg. 4. Field management. The field management of Chinese milk vetch should pay attention to five key points. (1) Drought-resistant and water-proof seedlings: In case of dry weather after sowing, it is necessary to irrigate once "running horse water" to keep the field moist, which can not only meet the water needs of Chinese milk vetch seeds, but also meet the water and gas requirements of late rice, which is conducive to filling and fruiting. After late rice harvest, clean up the "three ditches" in time to ensure that the "three ditches" are unblocked and irrigation is convenient. (2) Pre-winter topdressing to improve seedling fertilizer: generally after emergence, use 250-300 kg of thin manure water per mu, combined with drought resistance irrigation, make full use of pre-winter temperature and light conditions to accelerate seedling growth. (3) Apply good wax fertilizer to prevent freezing injury: In the first and middle of December, apply 400-500 kg of soil fertilizer per mu plus 25-30 kg of calcium superphosphate to enhance cold resistance and reduce freezing injury. Increasing superphosphate application is an important yield-increasing measure for raising fertilizer with small fertilizer, which can not be ignored. (4) Apply spring fertilizer to promote spring development: apply urea 2-4 kg per mu after spring, apply according to seedlings, promote balanced growth, and build shelves for high yield. Spraying 0.2% borax solution twice on leaves could increase fresh grass yield by 20%. (5) Prevention and control of diseases and insect pests: Chinese milk vetch mainly has aphids, leaf miners, sclerotiorum and other diseases and insect pests. It is necessary to spray timely control. For aphids and leaf miners, omethoate or dichlorvos 1000 times solution spray is generally used to control them. For sclerotinia sclerotiorum, 40% Mibingwei 150 ml or 70% methyl thiophane 75-100 g can be used, and 50 kg of water can be sprayed. 5. Keep seeds. The fields with good drainage, sandy soil, medium fertility and non-continuous cropping shall be selected as remaining fields. It is best to select good varieties, high yield, pure seed, mature late Chinese milk vetch seeds for sowing, the amount of sowing per mu can be reduced to about 1.5 kg. Nitrogen fertilizer should not be applied to the remaining fields. Increasing the application of calcium superphosphate of about 10 kg and plant ash of 10-15 kg per mu can improve the seed yield and quality. The mature period of Chinese milk vetch pod is not consistent, generally the best harvest is when 80% of the seed pod turns black. Usually 50-60 kg of seeds can be harvested per mu.