Botanical characteristics and cultivation techniques of Radix Astragali, a medicinal plant in North China

Botanical characteristics and cultivation techniques of Radix Astragali, a medicinal plant in North China

Astragalus membranaceus (also known as Dasha Yuan, Radix Astragali, is a plant of the genus Astragalus Leguminosae. It is used as a seed in medicine, and the medicinal material is called Astragalus complanatus. It has the functions of tonifying kidney, solidifying essence, reducing urine, nourishing liver and eyesight, and is used for the treatment of dizziness, sore waist and knees, frequent enuresis, endless residual discharge, premature ejaculation, excessive leucorrhea and so on. Distributed in Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia and other places.

Botanical characteristics and cultivation techniques of Radix Astragali, a medicinal plant in North China

1 Botanical characteristics

Astragalus membranaceus is a perennial herb, 30 ~ 100cm high, with stout roots, dark brown root bark and tenacity. Stems much branched, obliquely ascending, sparsely pubescent. Leaves pinnately compound, stipules narrowly lanceolate, hairy. Petiolule very short, apex obtuse or emarginate, apiculate. Base rounded, glabrous above, densely white pubescent below. Racemes axillary. Calyx bell-shaped, 5 calyx teeth, as long as calyx tube, 2 linear bracteoles under calyx. Corolla butterfly-shaped, yellow, apex concave base with short claws, keel flap and wing flap equal. Pods fusiform, slightly swollen, apex beaked, dorsally slightly flattened, sparsely pubescent. Seeds 20 ~ 30, slightly compressed round kidney-shaped, ventral concave with a kind of navel, round, hard, not easy to break, yellow cotyledons and curved radicle can be seen after breaking, and the radicle is about 1mm. The weight of 1000 seeds is 2. 3G. The flowering period is from August to September and the fruiting stage is from September to October.

2 biological characteristics

Astragalus membranaceus has strong adaptability and is wild in hillside grass, field edge or roadside. Lax requirements on the soil, afraid of waterlogging. The seeds are widely suitable for germination, which can germinate well at 15 ~ 30 ℃, and the storage life is 1 year at room temperature. Astragalus membranaceus takes 1 ~ 2 years from seed sowing to flowering and fruiting, and then blossoms and bears fruit every year. Generally, the yield is good in the second year, and the yield decreases in the third and fourth year. Production should be updated every 2 ~ 3 years.

3 cultivation and management

3. 1 selection and preparation of land

3. 1. 1. Select the areas that are pollution-free, more than 200m away from the main road or railway, water source, atmosphere and soil meet the second-class standard of Environmental quality Standard, convenient transportation, sufficient water and electricity, and convenient for collection and distribution. The previous crop had better be Gramineae, mainly corn, sorghum and so on. Select the hills or mountains with good drainage and high dryness to the sun, which requires the sandy loam with loose soil and good water permeability and air permeability, and the soil is slightly acidic. The soil is free from pollution.

3. 1. 2 apply rotten stable manure or compost 3000kg per mu (667m2, the same below). (it should be noted that farm manure must be fully mature to kill insect eggs, pathogens and weed seeds, meet the harmless sanitary standard, and prohibit the use of harmful municipal solid waste and sludge, hospital fecal waste and industrial waste containing harmful substances.) Add calcium superphosphate 20kg as base fertilizer, evenly sprinkle it into the ground, and then plough deeply above 30cm, rake fine and level the bed. The width of the border is 1.2 ~ 1.5 m, the length of the border depends on the topography, the width of the trail between the border is 40cm, the surface of the border is flat, and the ridge is solid [Jishan Huayao].

3. 2 methods of reproduction

Reproduce with seeds.

3. 2.1 seed treatment of Astragalus membranaceus seeds is easy to germinate, and the germination peak can be reached in 5 days at the temperature of 15 ~ 30 ℃. But the germination rate is not high, because the seed coat is hard, the water permeability is poor and the water absorption is weak. You can use boiling water to accelerate germination, put the selected seeds in hot water of 80 ~ 90 ℃, stir rapidly for 1 minute, immediately add cold water to cool, wait for the water temperature to drop to 40 ℃, soak the seeds for 2 hours, then pour out the water, cover sacks and other substances for 6 ~ 10 hours, and sow seeds when the seeds expand or the seed coat breaks.

3. 2. 2 sowing Astragalus membranaceus is usually sown in the middle and late April. Pour the border surface thoroughly before sowing, sow the land after 1 or 2 days, open a shallow trench with a depth of 2 ~ 3cm according to the row spacing 30cm, step on the bottom lattice, sow the seeds evenly in the ditch, cover the soil 1.5 ~ 2. 0cm, cover the grass curtain slightly, keep the border surface moist before emergence, seedling about 15 days, and the amount of seeds per mu is 1.0 ~ 1.0 5kg.

3. 3 field management

3. 3. 1 after weeding and seedling emergence, attention should be paid to timely weeding and loosening the soil, so that there are no weeds in the field.

3. 3. 2. When the seedling height is 4 ~ 5cm, except for over-dense seedlings and thin seedlings. When the seedling height was 6 ~ 10cm, the seedlings were fixed according to the cluster distance of 10 ~ 12cm, and 2 ~ 3 strong seedlings were left in each clump, and then the seedlings were supported to cultivate the soil.

3. 3. 3 Water management appropriate irrigation before and after seedling emergence, keep the border surface moist, generally do not need irrigation after the seedling is fixed.

3. 3. 4 topdressing at bud stage combined with mid-tillage and weeding and topdressing urea 5kg. Every year, after the local plants were withered and cleared, the rotten farm manure was applied and 3000kg was applied per mu.

3. 4 pest control

3. 4. 1 powdery mildew can occur from seedling to adult plant. The disease occurred at the beginning of July, harming leaves and pods. There were white velvety mildew spots on the affected parts, and small black spots appeared on the disease spots in the later stage, which caused the leaves to fall off. In severe cases, the leaves and pods turned brown and gradually withered and died. Prevention and control methods: clean the fields after harvest, focus on burning, implement crop rotation, spray 800 times of 65% methyl topiramate wettable powder at the initial stage of the disease, spray once every half a month, and spray 3 times in a row.

3. 4. 2 the brown-black ring rot appeared in the stems of the seedlings near the ground, and it was not obvious that there was a light brown spider web mold attached to the small soil granular sclerotia when the dead seedlings were pulled out. Prevention and control methods: soil disinfection; timely sowing to promote the rapid growth and survival of seedlings, to avoid infection; timely removal of diseased plants, spraying 50% methyl topiramate 800 times solution for prevention and control.

3. 4. 3 the pod borer occurred from late July to late September. The adults lay eggs on the tender pods or buds of Astragalus membranaceus. After hatching, the larvae ate into the pods and ate the seeds. The mature larvae drilled out of the pods and cocooned into the soil to survive the winter. Control method: spray 1000 times of trichlorfon at flowering stage and spray once every 7 days until the seeds are mature.

3. 4. 4. The larvae of the pod fly gradually bit down into the stem from the tender shoot, resulting in the gradual withering of the top shoot and the breaking of the plant in the event of wind. Control methods: spray 40% dimethoate 800 times liquid in June and July, spray once every 7 days, spray 4 times continuously.

4 seed harvesting

The fruit maturity of Astragalus membranaceus is characterized by yellowish green pods and yellowish brown seeds, which can be harvested at this time. If it is not harvested in time, the seeds will fall off after pod cracking. When most of the pods change color and the seeds are basically ripe, the pods are harvested, dried and threshed, removed impurities, and stored in a ventilated and dry place.