Effect of fertilization on the yield and quality of medicine crops in Anhui Province
English
IPNI-2009-CHN-AH17
04 Mar 2010
2009 Annual Interpretive Summary
Effect of Fertilization on Yield and Quality of Medicinal Crops in Anhui, 2009
Radix paeoniae and Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephala are famous traditional Chinese medicinal herbs in Anhui. Cultivated area of these herbs covers 70,000 ha in Bozhou County. Based on past year’s results, Anhui Agricultural University is continuing to conduct field fertilization trials for these two crops in 2009.
Results found the best NPK treatment in Radix paeoniae to be 300-150-75 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha, producing 65,224 kg/ha and and economic benefit of US$76,734/ha. This was 13.5% higher than results achieved with common practice. The average peony glucoside content in the product reached 3.45%, also a 13.5% improvement over common practice. Potassium had a significant effect on peony glucoside content.
Work with Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephala found branches, root length, root diameter, yield, and economic benefit all increased with application of K fertilizer. The best NPK rate was 150-120-225 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha, which increased yield by 1,188 kg/ha (15.8%) and the benefit to farmers by US$3,494/ha (+13.4%) over the zero K treatment. Phosphorus application also increased branch number, root length, root diameter, yield, and economic benefit. Application of 120 kg P2O5/ha increased crop yield by 891 kg/ha (11.5%) over zero P application, a response valued at US$2,619/ha. Anhui-17