Yangchun City, known as the "Little Guilin of Guangdong", is not only famous for its amomum fruits (Amomum villosum Lour.) but also for its Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita) industry, most notably in Beimian Town. There are more than 10,000 mu (approx. 666.667 ha) Chinese yams grown in Beimian Town, which is among the main sources of income for local farmers. Therefore, how to improve the yield and quality of Chinese yams has become the most important concern for local farmers.

Typhoon caused floods lead to sharp reduction of output

In an interview before the opening of the Chinese yam cultivation and management exchange meeting, Mr. Zhang, a senior-level Chinese yam grower said that he had been planting Chinese yams for 20 years. A good harvest is 6,000 to 7,000 jin (3,000 to 3,500 kg) per mu. The farmer has planted 15 mu, and the price is 3.8 yuan/jin, so the average income is up to 20,000 yuan/mu. But because of the previous year's typhoon, the yield at the beginning of this year was reduced 2,000-3,000 jin per mu, resulting in serious economic losses. A local dealer introduced the distressed farmer to the exchange meeting.

Chinese yam yield increases 1,000 jin by use of yeast source organic fertilizer

Farmer Liu planted 30 mu Chinese yams, and the yield was basically around 5,000 jin/mu at first. By taking the advice from a local dealer, he adopted the GuoXinNong program — a combination of 3-pack Angel "Fubon" yeast-based fertilizers + 30 kg compound fertilizers as base fertilizer, plus 2 packs of "Fubon" yeast-based fertilizer per mu in the middle of the year — and the yield grew by about 1,000 kg/mu in the following year. This makes a big profit, and Liu smiles a lot. The “Fubon” yeast fertilizer I used had as good effect. I’ve heard that there are new products with good soil improvement and pest control effects, so I came here to learn more, Liu said at the meeting.

Angel “Fubon”, a wonderful trick against pests and diseases

At the meeting, farmers listened carefully to learn cultivation management technologies. Su Shaohua, head of Guangdong GuoXinNong fertilizer department, said that to grow Chinese yams the soil must be improved first. The grown Chinese yams are prone to anthracnose, rust diseases, leaf spots, and stem rots, and susceptible to red spiders, root knot nematode, (white) grubs, etc. Moreover, long-time monoculture can easily lead to soil-borne diseases.

"Increasing soil organic matters, degrading or alleviating the harm of phosphate, and cultivating microorganisms are effective ways to control root-knot nematodes and soil-borne diseases." Su Shaohua continued, "Angel ‘Fubon’ tobacco stem fertilizer can effectively avoid the hazard of underground root knot nematodes by cultivating microorganisms, the natural enemy of root knot nematodes."

"The plants are growing well with thick green leaves and a strong anti-disaster capacity if tobacco stem fertilizer is applied", Su Shaohua explained to the farmers, "Take the wax gourds planted in the same plot of land for example. There is almost nothing left in the typhoon-ridden area where traditional organic fertilizers are spread, but with our products they are growing verdantly and healthily."

Why are tobacco stems so magically effective?

Tobacco stem fertilizer is a new, green, healthy fertilizer that meets the requirements of sustainable development, Guangdong GuoXinNong Yangchun Branch Manager Huang Dechang explained. The excellent resource-based yeast metabolite is used as the main source of the product's organic matter. The addition of tobacco stem, a unique absorption material with good insecticide efficacy, and the selection of high-activity compound functional bacteria has broken the granulating technology barrier.

The product is rich in biochemical fulvic acid, biomass carbon, NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), medium and trace elements, small molecular organic matters, vegetable proteins, amino acids, etc. It has the outstanding features of disease prevention, soil fertilization, root promotion, continuous cropping resistance, quality improvement, and yield increase, particularly effective in the promotion of roots and seedlings, disease resistance and disaster reduction, yield and quality improvement, among other aspects, and free from any chemical synthetic hormone, toxin, and residue, safe and suitable for a variety of crops.