Agro-ecological suitability assessment of Chinese Medicinal Yam under future climate change

Abstract

Chinese Medicinal Yam (CMY) has been prescribed as medicinal food for thousand years in China by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners. Its medical benefits include nourishing the stomach and spleen to improve digestion, replenishing lung and kidney, etc., according to the TCM literature. As living standard rises and public health awareness improves in recent years, the potential medicinal benefits of CMY have attracted increasing attention in China. It has been found that the observed climate change in last several decades, together with the change in economic structure, has driven significant shift in the pattern of the traditional CMY planting areas. To identify suitable planting area for CMY in the near future is critical for ensuring the quality and Dongli Fan and Honglin Zhong have contributed equally to this work.Environ Geochem Health (2020) 42:987-1000 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00437-w( 0123456789().,-volV) (0123456789().,-volV) Hebei, and western Shandong. The climate suitability of these areas will be improved due to global warming in the next 50 years, and therefore, they will continue to be the most suitable CMY planting regions.

An underutilized orphan tuber crop—Chinese yam : a review

“…The regions in China best suited for the cultivation of Chinese yam have also been predicted by spatial modeling using geographic information systems (Hu et al 2018 ). This highlighted areas such as the lower reaches of the Yellow River basin and the North China Plain, mainly in north-eastern Henan, in the Hebei and Shandong provinces, largely in agreement with the results of soil analysis (Fan et al 2019 ). In addition to the flat terrain and soil composed of loose, mineral-rich river sediments, these regions have an annual mean temperature of ~ 14 °C, an annual precipitation of 581 mm and ~ 2300 h of sunshine per year.…”

“…The most suitable areas in China are the flat landscapes in northern Shaanxi, eastern Shandong, and eastern Hebei, with specific soil parameters including a rich supply of minerals and a loose structure that allows the cultivation of fragile tubers (Fan et al 2019 ). Although Chinese yam can be grown in humus or loess soil, sandy soil is preferable because it increases the polysaccharide and glucose content of the tubers (Ma et al 2019 ).…”

The Effects of Climate Change on Chinese Medicinal Yam Over North China Under the High‐Resolution PRECIS Projection

“…Given the fact that the genuine CMY has been growing in the semi-arid and semi-wet regions of North China, it is essential to evaluate the future changes in the ecological suitability of the current CMY planting area and potential new areas for future CMY planting. Fan et al (2020) simulated the yield variations of CMY using the AEZ model driven by several GCMs. They found that the agroecological suitability of CMY in the northern Shaanxi, the eastern Shandong, the eastern Hebei and some parts of northeastern China will be improved because of the improved hygrothermal conditions.…”

Diversity, trait preferences, management and utilization of yams landraces (Dioscorea species): an orphan crop in DR Congo

“…Yam has also been found to contributes substantially to household food security in Ghana [4], [37]; in Nigeria [1]; in Benin [29]; and in Ethiopia [10]. Medicinal value of yam has not been exploited like reported in other countries [29], [38].…”