RU2120725C1 - Method for harvesting plant roots, preferably licorice, growing in natural brushwoods - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: harvesting of wild plants, such as licorice, and extraction of certified fractions used in pharmacy. SUBSTANCE: method involves laying out wild licorice brushwoods into strips with aged dominants, with age interval being 2-3 years; determining centers of mother roots in licorice brushwoods of more than 7 year age and marking centers with landmarks; determining areas of penetration of three, five, seven year old rootstock in brushwoods by partial shoots, brush sizes and height of vegetative stems; marking boundaries of two-three year old lands by means of rods in equally spaced relation to landmarks; working wild competing plants together with their weeds with three-five year dominance by means of bog harrow with cutter disks to blackhead laying depth for injuring horizontal roots; carrying out rotavation of soil within one-two years old dominance by means of rotavators to obtain 2 m width and 2-3 cm depth strips together with plant stems and roots; performing colmatage on these land strips by sowing germinated licorice seeds without scarifying seeds in the ratio of 1:1 at the rate of 220,000-250,000 pcs/ha (2 kg/ha); harvesting roots by digging and extracting certified fractions in dominants above seven years; extracting roots each two years in seven, five and three year old dominants; leaving land strips under colmatage as reserve; upon digging and extraction of certified roots, sowing perennial cereal grasses at seeding rate of 20-25 kg/ha. EFFECT: increased efficiency by retaining natural licorice brushwoods, increased productivity and economic safety of districts where licorice root is extracted. 2 cl, 1 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to agriculture, in particular to methods of harvesting, increasing the productivity of wild-growing forms of licorice (licorice root) and extracting conditioned fractions as medicinal raw materials for export in large quantities (from 3 to 15 thousand tons per season).

On the territory of the Russian Federation, the following ecotypes of licorice (Glycyrrhiza) are distinguished;
1. Licorice Bukhara - Glycyrrhiza bucharica Rgl .;
2. Goncharova licorice - Glycyrrhiza Gontscharavii T.Mas .;
3. Licorice Kuliabinskaya - Glycyrrhiza kylabensis T.Mas .;
4. Naked licorice - Glycyrrhiza glabra L .;
5. Prickly licorice - Glycyrrhiza aspera Pall .;
6. Zaisan licorice - Glycyrrhiza Zaissanica Serg .;
7. Licorice loose - Glycyrrhiza laxissima Vass .;
8. Ural licorice - Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch .;
9. Korzhinsky licorice - Glycyrrhiza korskyi G. Grig .;
10. Licorice bristly (needle) - Glycyrrhiza echinata L .;
11. Licorice Macedonian - Glycyrrhiza macedonica Boiss .;
12. Licorice pale-flowered - Glycyrrhiza flora Maxim .;
13. Licorice glandular - Glycyrrhiza glandulifera Wald ..

 Naked licorice, Ural licorice and G. Korzhinsky licorice are of medicinal and industrial importance.

 Licorice is a perennial, rather common plant in the Southeast of the Russian Federation in the steppe regions. It grows mainly in floodplains, steppes, plains and hills, usually with close occurrence of groundwater.

 Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) is a perennial herbaceous plant 1.0-1.5 m tall, often 0.5-0.7 m. Rhizome is many-headed, powerful. The leaves are alternate, complex, unpaired pinnate, petiolate, sticky, with falling awl-shaped trefoils. The flowers are small, axillary in spike-like brushes, pale purple or lilac. The fruit is a bean, smooth or glandular, squeezed laterally. It blooms in June and July. When collecting it should not be mixed with licorice needles (Glycyrrhiza echinata L.), in which the flowers are collected in capitate inflorescences and fruits - short prickly beans.

 Raw materials are roots (Radix Glycyrrhizeu Seu Radix Liguiritiae). Distribution area of licorice - European parts: Karpaty, Dnepropetrovsk region (south-west), Volga-Don interfluve (south), Trans-Volga, Moldova, Black Sea regions, Crimea, Lower Don regions, Lower Volga region, Caucasus; all areas of Western Siberia: Upper Tobol (south); Central Asia - all areas. Wild growth in steppes, semi-deserts, deserts, river valleys, channels of dried rivers, elders, oases, ravines, along the banks of streams, irrigation ditches, canals, in meadows, sunny lands, weed in crops, on fallows, in mountains up to a height of 2000 m above sea levels. Licorice is a part of meadow and steppe communities in the valleys of large rivers of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and the Kura-Araksin lowland with large thickets.

 The value of licorice in recent years (1990-1995) has fundamentally changed and has increased significantly in the Russian Federation. In b. The USSR, by the presence of natural thickets of licorice and the possibilities of introducing it into industrial culture, was the first country in the world that did not have any serious competitors. Many enterprises of Western Europe and the USA worked on the Soviet licorice root. More than 85% of licorice root production went to foreign countries. After the collapse of the USSR, independent countries, pseudo-members of the CIS, licorice manage their resources independently and open their markets. So, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and others send raw materials from licorice root to Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam and India at a price of $ 400-600 per 1 ton of dry roots. In the Russian Federation in most of its regions until 1990 they were not involved in the extraction of licorice root for industrial purposes and as raw materials for supply to the leading capitalist countries of Europe and America. In the European part of Russia during the period 1990-1995 rampant predatory extraction of licorice roots was carried out without taking into account the environmental features of nature in the main areas of mass root extraction as a raw material for delivery to international markets.

 Ural licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) Differs from bare licorice by larger (up to 19 mm) violet flowers, gathered in denser brushes, as well as wavy, densely planted glands and iron bristles, sickle-shaped, closely twisted, and woven into a ball at the ends of peduncles.

 Licorice G. Korzhinsky (Glycyrrhiza korchinskyi G. Grig.) Is very close to Ural licorice, but differs from it in the absence of saccular bloating on the cup and fruits that do not intertwine into a dense ball. All these types of licorice bloom in May-July; their fruits begin to ripen in September.

 Naked licorice, Ural licorice and Korzhinsky licorice should not be mixed with bristled licorice (Glycyrrhiza echinata L.), which is widespread in river floodplains in the south of European part B. USSR and the west of Kazakhstan. It is found in the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions. Its roots are almost not sweet and have a white color. The people call it beluga whale. The flowers are gathered in a round head, and the fruits in a round brownish-red ball, consisting of a large number of prickly, prickly, short beans. In Transcaucasia, naked licorice can be confused with Macedonian licorice (Glycyrriza makedonica Boiss.), Which is very similar in appearance to bristly licorice and also having white roots.

 Under natural conditions, the largest areas are occupied by licorice groups mixed with eryanthus (Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Erianthuspurascens) and pure licorice thickets (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.). Smaller, but significant areas are located above the cattail-licorice groups (Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Typhaelephantina), licorice tugai (Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Populus euphratica, Populus pruinosa, Elaeagnus and others), imperator-Glucyrza + Cylindrica), grass-licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Imperata cylindrica Cynodon daktilon + Acluropus Litolaris) and yando-licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Alhadi canescens) groups.

 The growth of licorice in the habitat occurs both from sleeping buds from the roots, and from crumbled seeds. The development of seedlings in the first months is very fast. The first 3-4 leaves are simple, single, rounded, up to 1.5 cm in diameter. The next 4-5 leaves are triple and only from the ninth to tenth leaves from 5 leaves are formed. By the end of summer, plants have one stem with 12-15 (20) leaves and reach an average of 20 cm in height. The most developed specimens have small lateral branches developed from axillary buds in the middle part of the stem.

 At the base of the primary stem, in the sinuses of the cotyledons, the cotyledonous buds are clearly distinguishable, which, as a rule, remain at rest in the first year of life. Together with two or three lower axillary buds of the stem, trapped in the soil due to retraction of the root neck (102 cm in the first year of life), they serve to form the stems in the coming year. In the sinuses of the 3-4 lower kidney scales, you can find clearly visible daughter kidneys. Thus, the annual plants leaving for the winter have a sufficient supply for the development of stems for the coming year. The buds are located and stored on the underground part of the stem, as well as on the cotyledon node. This is the structure of an ordinary annual plant. At the base of the shoots that developed from the cotyledonous buds, there is also always a pair of buds. These are the same daughter kidneys that were in the sinuses of the lower scales of the cotyledonous kidneys, but due to the strong convergence of the internodes located along the cotyledonous node. In older, but not yet old plants (two to five years), the cotyledonous node has a number of buds of various sizes, which are sequentially interconnected by a kinship of origin: maternal, daughter, etc. They, along with the buds located on the underground parts of the stems, are the reserve due to which the plant forms overground stems during its life and gives a new beginning to rhizomes. All kidneys are axillary in origin.

 Young licorice plants, formed under conditions of lesser importance, develop a normal carrot root, which by two or three years has a length of 100-120 cm, sometimes more. In biennial licorice plants, in conditions of high humidity, the root does not deepen by more than 50 cm. The thickening in the region of the root neck reaches 1.5 cm, and the nodules are even larger and larger (up to 6 mm long and 3 mm wide) than in annuals.

 The aerial part of the biennial plant develops due to overwintered sleeping buds. Both cotyledonous buds can start to grow, forming two aerial shoots. If the cotyledonous buds are at rest, then axillary begin to develop on last year’s stem. Most bud heads in spring simultaneously start to grow. The first leaves on the shoots of the 2nd year, like annuals, are also less complex at first. The first 2 are single, then 2-3 triple, subsequent from 5 leaves, and only then go the more complex ones. By the end of summer, stems grow to 30-50 (70) cm. In the middle of summer, 1-2 more buds (cotyledonous or stem-shaped) wake up in some plants, but they give rise not to aboveground shoots, but to underground young rhizomes. These rhizomes grow 70-150 cm over the summer, but usually they do not reach the surface of the soil.

 In the third year of life, last year's growth and the formation of new rhizomes occurs more intensively. Moreover, in the spring, the buds start moving at the same time, from which both aboveground shoots and rhizomes are formed. There is no determination of the kidneys, rhizomes and green stems can develop both from the axillary buds remaining on parts of the overwintered stems, and from the buds located on the cotyledon node. The kidneys are poorly differentiated. In them, only 5-8 primordia of leaves can be considered; in the third year of plant life, the stems form flowers. The development of flowers, starting in April, is intensive. In the first year of licorice flowering, seeds are tied in a small amount.

 By the end of the third year, licorice has a main root of 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, immersed in the soil in the region of the root neck by 5-10 cm, which depends on the size of the applied soil layers. Rhizomes grow 1-2 m per year in a year. By the third year of life, partial bushes appear on horizontal rhizomes. Initially, these are only single green stems developing from buds located on horizontal rhizomes in the sinuses of reduced scaly leaves.

The rhizomes of a four-to five-year-old plant star-like diverge in different directions from the head, and then each of them branches repeatedly and forms branches to the third order. The total linear length of the rhizomes is more than 40 m. The area occupied by the rhizome system exceeds 30 m ² . The main root at this age in the region of the root neck is 4 cm in diameter. In addition to the green stems that form from the head, rhizomes are brought to the surface of up to 15 partial bushes that developed from the axillary buds of horizontal rhizomes. On the rhizomes there are last year's dead stems. There were no renewal of stems in these partial bushes this year, because the rhizome was located shallow from the surface of the soil and all axillary buds present at the base of the stems died out in winter with the stems.

 Naked licorice plants, reaching four to five years of age, form a whole system of underground and aboveground organs, consisting of the main root with green aboveground stems and a series of partial bushes connected to each other and the mother root through horizontal rhizomes, fortified in the soil with the help of additional roots.

 The subsequent growth of the plant, the formation of green stems and new rhizomes, as well as the elongation of old rhizomes, as well as the capture (development) of new soil sections by them, occurs due to the growth of axillary buds formed in the region of vertical and horizontal rhizomes starting to grow in growth and termination the latter. The buds of the rhizomes and buds of the head are weakly differentiated and not deterministic, and therefore both the aboveground stem and the lateral branch of the rhizome can develop from them.

 At the age of four to five years, from 1 to 10 aboveground green stems and about the same number of underground rhizomes can leave the root head. With age, the number of the latter usually doubles, triple, while the number of stems, on the contrary, decreases. Partial bushes have 2-3 green stems.

 Roots of licorice are growing monopodially. However, monopodial growth is not always strictly expressed, sometimes the growing ends of the rhizomes after 2-3 years of monopodial growth can come to the surface of the soil and form a final green stem.

 Young rhizomes, especially their endings, are very fragile, colorless or milky white in color. In young plants they are thin - 3-5 mm in diameter, in older ones - up to 10 mm. Growing endings branch strongly and give rise to a whole system of new rhizomes. With age, the rhizomes are covered with a thin brown cork, which then darkens. On young rhizomes, scaly leaves are noticeable, in the sinuses of which axillary buds are laid (at an average distance of 2-8 cm). The adventitious roots in the amount of 2-4 depart from the base. Young subordinate roots are planted with nitrogen-containing nodules of the most diverse form: simple, palmate, one-, two-, three- and multi-lobed. The sizes of nodules on the roots range from 0.5-1.5 cm long and wide.

 Adnexal roots are noticeable on young rhizomes, but with the age of the latter (after 2-3 years), not every axillary kidney remains. The most powerful development is one subordinate root. Accessory roots with high standing groundwater do not penetrate deep into the soil, but when they reach a certain depth, they are located horizontally. Sometimes one or two partial shrubs form, which powerfully grow in the vertical rhizome, which causes it to thicken to the size of the main root.

 In instances of licorice growing near water and undergoing flooding, the development of long rhizomes does not occur. Five-six-year-old plants have frail and thin rhizomes, reaching 1.5 m in length. Instead of long rhizomes, these plants form a mass of short ones, which are located underground not deeper than 10-15 cm and immediately bring green stems to the surface. In such plants, you can count up to 30-40 green stems.

 The penetration depth of the main and subordinate roots rarely exceeds 1.0-1.5 m, although they reach groundwater. According to the type of water supply, licorice is usually referred to xerophytes. The bulk of the rhizomes is located in the horizon of 20-50 (70) cm from the soil surface. The imprint of former excess moisture lies on the structure of the main roots. Most of them are short-stemmed. The stem part often reaches a length of only 10 cm and is immediately divided into 2-3, and sometimes more lateral roots. If the root part of the root extends to a considerable depth (up to 70 cm) without branching, it can be seen that at the level of the former excess moisture, the root immediately branched and formed many lateral roots, thereby losing its core character.

 The bark of adult roots is grayish-brown in color with uniform rows of lentils across the root (transverse striation). Often on the bark, the swirling of the root is clearly visible, which indicates the retraction of the plant roots. It should be noted that this curl is usually not visible at all roots. On the surface of the wood, you can find that the heart-shaped rays are not strictly down in a straight line, but go in oblique rows, spinning around the central axis of the root.

 In an adult thicket of licorice, the bare diameter of the main roots (in the area of the root neck) varies from 5 to 12 cm, more often 7-9 cm. On the cross-section of these roots, made in the basal part, the broad annual layers of wood are clearly distinguishable, according to which age. By counting the annual rings, the age of the roots in the licorice thickets of seed origin, and therefore the age of the thicket itself, can be easily determined. In the established licorice thickets in the floodplains of the Volga and Don rivers, the age of the roots reaches from 8 to 17 years.

 In old-aged roots aged 10 (sometimes 8) years, dead tissue is found in the center of the root neck in the center, i.e. after dead ground shoots and some rhizomes. Rot captures up to 2-4 cm in diameter and gradually fades away, spreading along the root length by 4-8 cm. The largest main licorice roots 8-12 cm in diameter and dug at a depth of 70-100 cm, weigh 20-25 kg in wet condition (humidity 42-45%).

 In adults, 15-30 rhizomes can extend from the head located on the main root. A plant aged 15 years with a root diameter of 9 cm has 30 healthy rhizomes (on average 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter and 9 rotted (decomposed)). Rotten rhizomes are often not horizontal, but vertical, with green stems bearing the surface of the soil. At the time of digging the root above it, there were only 2 green rather fragile stems located on the newly formed thin vertical rhizomes. The presence of a large number of powerfully developed green stems in licorice thickets indicates the youth of thickets. In such thickets licorice roots that meet the requirements of GOST 22839-88 "Roots and rhizomes of licorice. Technical conditions" do not exceed 7-12%. The absence of green stems in the maternal roots and generally a small number of them per unit area indicates the maturity of the licorice thicket (clumps, splitting) and a large supply of roots and rhizomes. The output of products suitable for the procurement of raw materials for industrial and medicinal purposes is 88-97%.

 The comparative short life (no more than 25 years) of the roots and rhizomes of licorice is compensated by the unlimited possibility of its vegetative growth, not to mention the great ability to seed reproduction. Since the appearance of the maternal specimen, which gave rise to the now existing rhizome (constantly growing from one end - young and dying from the other - old), tens, and possibly hundreds of years, have taken place. Thus, the migration of the underground queen - licorice.

In licorice thickets at the age of 15-20 years, the total length of all branches of the roots and rhizomes reaches more than 70 meters, with 10 ends of the rhizomes losing their mark. The total area of the thicket was 80 m ² . The linear length of the roots was 2000 m.

 The development of the underground organs of licorice, which grows in floodplains, can be divided into several stages. These stages, characterizing the formation of licorice roots and rhizomes, in turn, also have their own characteristics, which should be taken into account when determining the usability of licorice massifs.

 There is a method of harvesting licorice, which consists in separately cleaning the aerial parts of plants with reaping machines and the underground parts of plants, in which a furrow is made with a planting plow to the depth of the industrial roots (50-60 cm). In this case, the formation is wrapped so that the rod and the upper part of the root - Karabash, are located in the lower layers of the plowed formation, and the root-containing layer is on the surface. After that, the workers, using hand tools, cut off the roots from the Karabash, extract them and put them in a pile for drying on the treated part of the field. Next, make the second pass with a plow, wrapping the reservoir in the previous furrow with a similar selection of roots manually (Questions of the study and use of licorice in the USSR. M., Nauka, 1966).

 Using the described method of harvesting licorice roots in the Lower Volga region to the devastation of pastures, meadows, lowlands and floodplains, as well as to create foci of wind erosion of the soil. Due to the acute deficit of soil moisture in the plowed strata, rhizomes and licorice karabash completely die. Thus, the natural thickets of licorice are destroyed. Even under the most favorable conditions in these cases, the thickets can restore their borders only after 10-15 years.

There is also known a method of harvesting plant roots, mainly licorice, containing trimming the upper part of the roots, digging up and extracting their conditioned fraction from the earth, in which, in order to prevent wind erosion and desiccation of the soil, pruning the upper part of the roots is carried out by removing the surface layer of the earth, which is moved without wrapping around the harvested part of the field (SU, copyright certificate N 904563. M. cl. ³ A 01 D 91/02. Method for harvesting plants // Bondarenko Yu.S. and Mychko IP Announced 08/20/1980, published 02.15. 1982).

 The movement of the upper soil layer together with Karabash does not contribute to the rapid restoration of the productivity of natural licorice thickets. To restore the vital activity of licorice from the Karabash kidneys, large expenditures are required for restoration of the vegetation cover and a sufficient amount of rainfall.

A known method of harvesting plant roots, mainly licorice, including mowing the aerial parts of plants, cutting off the surface layer with root necks and Karabash, moving it to a harvested area, digging and removing roots from the soil, in which, in order to increase the completeness of harvesting the roots and improve reproducibility licorice, before moving the surface soil layer on the harvested field, open the furrow with the formation of a soil roll, then put the surface soil layer in the furrow, compact it and cover with a layer of soil, destroying the soil roll; the surface layer of the soil before moving is cut into parts (SU, copyright certificate N 1184470. M. class ⁴ A 01 D 91/02. Method for harvesting plant roots // Bondarenko Yu.S. and Dyatlev V.A. published 10/15/1985).

 The reasons that impede the achievement of the required technical result when using the known method include low reception efficiency for the reproduction of licorice roots.

The closest device of the same purpose to the claimed object in terms of features is a method of harvesting plant roots, mainly licorice, including cutting the surface layer of the soil with root necks and Karabash, moving it to the harvested field and into the furrow, digging and extracting the roots, primary separation of the root containing layer of soil into the furrow while moving it to subsequent working bodies and secondary separation, in which, in order to improve the reproduction of licorice, after primary soil separation into the furrow, the surface soil layer with root necks and Karabash is moved into the furrow, and secondary separation is carried out in the furrow after the above-mentioned surface soil layer with root necks is moved into it (SU, copyright certificate N 1706438. M. class ⁵ A 01 D 25/02, A 01 D 91/02. A method of harvesting plant roots and a device for its implementation // Bondarenko, Yu. S. and Strelets IM, Declared December 22, 1989. Published on January 23, 1992). The closest analogue in terms of the method.

 The reasons that impede the achievement of the required technical result when using the known method adopted as the closest analogue include the limited capabilities of the method, low efficiency of the reproduction of natural (wild) licorice thickets, high energy consumption and low yield of licorice conditioned roots to create a raw material base.

 The invention consists in the following.

 The problem to which the invention is directed is to increase the productivity of natural (wild) licorice thickets.

 The technical result is the preservation of natural thickets of licorice, increasing their productivity, improving the environmental safety of areas of licorice root production.

 The specified technical result in the implementation of the invention is achieved by the fact that in the known method of harvesting plants, mainly licorice in natural thickets, including trimming the upper part of the roots and Karabash, digging and extracting the conditioned fractions from the ground, licorice thickets are divided into age-specific dominants at intervals of two to three years, while in the age groups of licorice over seven years old, they determine the centers of maternal roots, which are noted by benchmarks, by partial shoots, bushes and the height of vegetative stems determine the ranges of the root system at the age of three to five to seven years, and equidistant milestones mark the boundaries of sites at the age of one to two years, while competing wild plants in associations, together with their roots in the dominant of three to five years, are cut with heavy harrows with cutting discs to the depth of the Karabash, causing injury to horizontal roots, in the licorice group with an age dominant, one or two years of competitors are removed by milling the soil in strips of 2 m wide to a depth of 2-3 cm along with the stem holes and roots of plants and create colmatizing areas by sowing germinated licorice seeds without their scarification in a ratio of 1: 1 at the rate of 220,000-250,000 pcs / ha (2 kg / ha), the roots are harvested by strip single-time digging and extraction of conditioned fractions in the band of the dominant group older seven years, and in the bands with age dominants seven and five years and three years, mining is carried out every two years, while the clogging areas are left under reservation; after digging and extracting the licorice roots, sow perennial cereal grasses with germinating seeds of 20-25 kg / ha.

 Due to the fact that in the wild thickets of licorice favorable conditions are created for the growth of new rhizomes and natural favorable conditions for their growth are preserved, the above technical result is achieved.

 The analysis of the prior art by the applicants, including a search by patent and scientific and technical sources of information and identification of sources containing information about analogues of the claimed invention, made it possible to establish that the applicants did not find an analogue characterized by features identical to all the essential features of the claimed invention.

 Therefore, the claimed invention meets the requirement of "novelty" under applicable law.

 To verify the compliance of the claimed invention with the requirement of "inventive step", the applicants conducted an additional search for known solutions in order to identify features that match the distinctive features of the claimed invention from the closest analogue, the results of which show that the claimed invention does not explicitly follow from the known level of technology and technology , since from the level of methods and techniques defined by the applicants, the influence provided for by essential features has not been identified the claimed invention transformations to achieve a technical result.

 Therefore, the claimed invention meets the requirement of "inventive step" under applicable law.

 The invention is illustrated by the drawing, which shows the sequence of operations to increase the productivity of natural thickets of licorice.

 Information confirming the possibility of carrying out the invention are as follows.

 A method of harvesting plant roots, mainly licorice, growing in natural thickets, includes trimming the upper part and Karabash, digging and extracting conditioned fractions from the ground. Natural licorice thickets are divided into strips with age-related dominants at intervals of two to three years. In the age-dominant groups of licorice thickets older than seven years, the centers of maternal roots are determined, which are noted by benchmarks. By the partial shoots, the size of the bushes and the height of the vegetative shoots, the distribution areas of the root system at the age of three to five to seven years are determined and the boundaries of the sites at the age of two to three years are mapped by equidistant milestones. In the natural thickets of licorice, first of all, the boundaries of 1 sections are determined, in which licorice is located (Ural licorice, GG Korzhinsky licorice). In zone 2, the position of the central maternal root is determined by the height of the partial bushes and vegetative shoots. The position of the maternal root in zone 2 is marked with a benchmark 3. Next, each zone 2, starting from the external contour defined by border 1, is divided into age dominants: subzone 4 - from one year to two years old, subzone 5 - from three to five years old years, subzone 6 - from the age of five to seven years and the central group of 7 - roots and rhizomes older than seven years. The age of the roots and rhizomes in subzones 4, 5 and 6 and in the central group 7 is determined by annual rings established by sections of roots and rhizomes. To determine the age and adjust the boundaries in age dominants, control areas are laid with dimensions of 0.4x0.4 m and excavations are carried out to a depth of 0.6-0.7 m. According to the updated data, milestones 8 and stakes 9, which determine the boundaries of the roots and licorice rhizomes by age dominants. To perform mechanized operations with a continuous technological process, milestones 8 and stakes 9 are equidistantly set in relation to the benchmarks 3 (see drawing).

 In subzone 4, mainly seedlings, annuals, seed germination and seedling formation are observed. The cotyledon and axillary buds located at the base of the elevated stem are submerged in the soil as a result of retraction of the root neck. Thus the head begins to form. The diameter of the root neck is 0.5-1.0 cm. The roots of plants at this stage of production do not matter.

 Subzone 5 contains two to three summer plants. In the stems, the axillary buds are laid in the head region and the formation of horizontal rhizomes from these buds begins. The diameter of the root neck of the main root is 1.0-2.5 cm. Despite the fact that the glycyrrhizin content in the roots of this age differs little from its content in the roots of adult plants, the production value of the underground organs of plants at this stage is insignificant, because the stock of roots in the soil is not more than 2-3 t / ha in the wet state. Root reserves were estimated in a soil layer of 50-60 cm according to five control sites 2x2 m.

 In subzone 6, plants of four to six years of age predominate. Intensive formation of new rhizomes, their stellate distribution and large growth in length, and therefore rhizomes occupy large areas. These areas in the drawing are shaded by horizontal lines. Aboveground green stems arise on short vertical rhizomes, extending not only from the head located on the main root with a diameter of 2.5 to 5 cm, but also from horizontal rhizomes. The plant intensively develops aboveground organs, forming many partial bushes. The production value of plants at this stage is very relative. The soil contains 5-10 t / ha of raw root. This is three to four times less than the natural reserves of licorice root in the central group 7.

 In the central group 7, at its outer borders, plants are located in the age dominant of seven to ten years. Intensive growth of rhizomes in length is somewhat suspended. The process of accumulation of spare substances in the roots and rhizomes prevails. There is growth in the thickness of the roots and the diameter of the rhizomes increases from 3 to 5.5 cm.

 Most short vertical rhizomes attached to the head and once forming green stems on the soil surface die off. There is no karabash in the turf layer. Only horizontal rhizomes are attached to the head, which are firmly rooted by the adventitious roots by this time. The diameter of the main root varies from 4 to 7 cm. The number of green stems formed on horizontal rhizomes is much smaller than that of plants in subzone 6. The stock of roots in the central group in the age dominant of seven to ten years varies from 15 to 40 t / ha.

 In the central part of group 7, marked by benchmarks 3, plants aged 1 to 15 years and older are observed. The processes of growth of rhizomes from the head located on the maternal root leads to cracking of the root in the upper part (particularization) and the spread of root rot down the root at a distance of 2-6 cm. There are almost no green stems above such main roots with a diameter of 7 to 10 cm or they are very frail. But the mass of roots at a depth of 60-70 cm reaches 20-25 kg. Horizontal rhizomes are widespread, and the diameter of the magnitude of the rhizome system of one plant can reach 15 m. The total linear length of the roots reaches 200-300 m. Rhizomes are strengthened by numerous additional roots (underground brotherhood). The maternal root is dying. If the artificial separation of the branches of rhizomes (mechanical cutting or mechanical injury) occurs painlessly in the dominant for three to five years, then the natural separation (decay) of the rhizome branches from the head occurs after twenty years. This process is associated with the death of the mother's root and the head itself. Separated rhizome branches continue to exist even without a maternal root, occupying new areas of soil in subzones 6, 5, 4 and beyond. The stock of raw roots in the central group is 40-60 t / ha. In some places, the productivity of licorice thickets reaches 80-100 t / ha (in a flooded floodplain on a low terrace and along eriks).

 Extraction of licorice roots and rhizomes in the central group 7 in the conditions of the Lower Volga region is carried out in the season, starting from April 15-20 and closing it on October 25-30. In the Astrakhan region - at the end of November. There are 7 units in the central group, including either the DT-75M tractor and the PPN-60 mounted plow, which plow the layers to a depth of 60 cm and then manually collect the plowed roots and rhizomes with a team of eight to ten people, or the T-150K tractor and machine for the extraction of licorice roots MDK-2.6 (conditional brand) design of the All-Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Agriculture (VNIIOZ). After the passage of the aggregate, the roots and rhizomes of licorice lie on the surface of the strip. Dried roots and rhizomes are collected by a device for collecting and transporting licorice roots PK-2.1 (conditional brand) in an aggregate with a MTZ-80 wheeled tractor.

 After harvesting the licorice roots from the central group 7, the surface of the strip is prepared for sowing perennial cereal grasses, for example, fescue, hedgehogs of the national team, pasture ryegrass, canary and others, with a seeding rate of 20-25 kg / ha of germinating seeds. Sowing is carried out in the first ten days of August, but no later than October 15-20. After sowing, the strip surface is rolled with 3KKSh-6A ring-spur rollers in aggregate with a DT-75M crawler tractor. Sprouted seeds and rooted plants of perennial cereals go for wintering. The surface of the cleaned strip in the central group 7 is protected from wind erosion and water erosion from flood water.

 In subzone 6 with an age dominant, plants do not do any work for five to seven years over the next two years. The natural grass in subzone 6 is the wind protection of crops in the central group 7. During this period, the roots and rhizomes of licorice plants intensively develop, increasing both overall dimensions (length, thickness) and their quality filling. The roots are harvested in this subzone two years after harvesting in the central group. The competing wild plants in associations, together with their roots in bands with an age dominant of three to five years, are separated by heavy harrows with cut discs to the depth of the Karabash. inflicting injuries on horizontal roots for new root formations. In subzone 5, in the late autumn period, competitors of wild plants ("savages") are destroyed by heavy disk harrows of the BDT-3,7 type with cut-out disks. The depth of cultivation is set equal to 15-20 cm, i.e. to the depth of the Karabash and horizontal roots. The edges of the cut discs are mechanically cut into pieces and injured roots of licorice. This mechanical operation in the spring of next year leads to the awakening of the axillary (sleeping) kidneys. Emerging new aerial shoots, new root formation and the absence of competitors over the next four years lead to the fact that stocks of licorice roots from 10-15 t / ha reach 40-60 t / ha.

 In subzone 5, located between milestones 8 and stakes 9 (for their difference, they are painted in bright colors - orange and blue), moisture accumulates during the autumn-winter and spring periods. The soil settles, shredded plant stems in associations and shoots of licorice mulch the upper soil layer, excluding soil desiccation and preventing erosion processes during strong winds (May) from May 1 to May 20.

 In subzone 4, in places with the smallest number of one-two-year-old licorice shoots, at the end of April (in exceptional cases in the first ten days of May), clogging plots are laid 10. For this purpose, competitors in the licorice group with an age dominant of 1–2 years are removed by milling the soil with a CFN -2 with L-shaped knives in strips of 2 m wide to a depth of 2-3 cm. The length of the clogging sections 10 can vary from 5 to 50 m. Milling of the soil is carried out to a depth of 2-3 cm along with the stems and roots of the plants. Following milling, plots of plots are created in sections 10 by joint sowing of seeds of licorice (Ural licorice, G. Korzhinsky licorice). The seeding rate is set at the rate of 220,000-250,000 pcs / ha (2 kg / ha) of germinating seeds. Half of these seeds are sown sprouted, and the other half - without scarification, i.e. in the ratio 1: 1 at the rate of 220-250 thousand units / ha (2 kg / ha). Sowing is carried out by a mounted selection seeder SN-16PM with thirteen disk or keeled openers. The sowing depth is 1.5-2.0 cm. The row spacing is 0.15 m. The seeder is hung on the MTZ-80 tractor. Sprouted seeds and seeds without treatment in small seed boxes are intensively transported. Toothed coils are installed in the housings of the metering units. After sowing, the surfaces of sections 10 are rolled. Sprouted seeds, once in favorable conditions, intensively develop. Licorice seeds in the soil do not lose their germination for 10 years. For this reason, in the clogging areas 10 there is a gradual growth of licorice seeds and these areas are reservations of preserving the licorice ecotype. In subzones 6, 5 and 4, as their productivity increases, they produce commercial production of licorice root reserves. Harvesting of the roots is carried out by strip disposable digging and extraction of conditioned fractions in an age dominant over seven years old. In the age dominants of seven, five and three years, production is carried out every two years, while maintaining stripes with natural grass stand. Colmatizing sites are left under reservation. Following the digging and extraction of conditioned roots in the respective strips, sowing of perennial cereal grasses with seeding rates of 20-25 kg / ha is carried out. Restoration (reclamation) of the natural grass stand excludes erosion processes on the flooded floodplains and on unheated massifs. Thus, for a long time, high productivity of natural licorice thickets is ensured, the processes of wind and water soil erosion are eliminated, and the licorice ecotype is preserved.

Thus, the above information indicates the fulfillment of the following set of conditions when using the claimed invention:
means embodying the claimed invention in its implementation, intended for use in agriculture using well-known energy and technical means produced by domestic agricultural machinery;
for the claimed invention in the form as described in the independent clause of the claims below, it is confirmed by the possibility of its implementation using the means and methods described above or known prior to the priority date;
means embodying the claimed invention in its implementation, is able to ensure the achievement of the perceived by the applicants technical result.

 Therefore, the claimed invention meets the requirement of "industrial applicability" under applicable law.

Claims (2)

 1. A method of harvesting plant roots, mainly licorice, growing in natural thickets, comprising trimming the upper part of the roots and Karabash, digging and extracting conditioned fractions from the ground, characterized in that the natural licorice thickets are divided into strips with age dominants at intervals of two to three years, while in the dominant age groups of licorice over seven years old, they determine the centers of maternal roots, which are noted by benchmarks, by partial shoots, size of bushes and vegetative height by habitats of distribution of the root system at the age of three to five to seven years are determined by it and the equidistant milestones mark the boundaries of sites at the age of two to three years with milestones, while wild competing plants in associations, together with their roots in strips with an age dominant of three to five years, are carved with heavy with harrows with cut-out discs to the depth of the Karabash occurrence, having inflicted wounds on the horizontal roots for new root formations, in the licorice group with an age dominant one or two years of competitors remove milling m of soil with strips of 2 m wide to a depth of 2 - 3 cm, together with the stems and roots of the plants, and create clogging areas by joint sowing of germinated and without scarification licorice seeds in a ratio of 1: 1 at the rate of 220,000 - 250,000 pcs / ha (2 kg / ha), roots are harvested by striping once by digging and extracting the conditioned fractions in the age dominant older than seven years, and in the age dominants of seven, five and three years old, production is done every two years, while the clogging areas are left for reservation.  2. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that after digging and extracting the conditioned roots sow perennial cereal grasses with seeding rates of 20 to 25 kg / ha.