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In the Czech Republic buckwheat had been a very common foodstuff in the first half of 16th century but tartary buckwheat is not mentioned at all in historic records. There are few records about history, occurrence and cultivation of tartary buckwheat in Europe in comparison with common buckwheat. Generally it said that its genetic centre is China and into Europe it was spread together with buckwheat from Siberia. It has never been a usual crop in regions of the Czech Republic but for experimental purposes only. It has occurred as a weed in buckwheat vegetation.
Nowadays the largest fields of tartary buckwheat are in southeast China, at higher latitudes of Tibet, Himalayas, Nepal and India. There are some farms growing tartary buckwheat for food production in Germany. At the Research Institute of Crop Production in Prague, Department of gene bank, gathering of genotypes of Fagopyrum tataricum, their basic evaluation and selection of the most perspective ones for cultivation in conditions of the Czech Republic are in progress.
Tartary buckwheat morphology is similar to buckwheat but there are some different features. It has smooth, green stem, leaves with stronger anthocyan patch on their basis and smaller yellow-green flowers. Seeds are smaller comparing to buckwheat with indistinct trihedral shape. Generally tartary buckwheat is more robust plant and grows up to the height 150 cm.
Some older literature presents recommendations to use tartary buckwheat for its better attributes in contrast to buckwheat such as better resistance to cold, no special temperature, climate and soil requirements, higher yields and two crops per season in warm areas. It has higher content of rutin in leaves and seed than buckwheat. Tartary buckwheat is an important honey plant and represents a crop suitable for marginal areas, low productive soils and organic farming.
Tartary buckwheat has a high nutritional value. It contains significant amount of proteins and biologically active compounds mainly rutin. It is well known that rutin affects artery elasticity and permeability, blood pressure. Rutin also helps individuals suffering from diseases caused by radiation and stimulates the effect of vitamin C.
Seeds of tartary buckwheat used to be processed on flour and other products similar to the products made from buckwheat. Leaves were used in salads or as spinach.
Plants of tartary buckwheat are high quality feed for animals.
Tartary buckwheat is not a crop that requires particular growing conditions at all. It demonstrates a certain resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, has short growing season that can be extremely shortened by cultivation for green mass. The latitude range limit for its successful growing is 400 - 4 400 m above sea.
See buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.)
Number of plants per square meter is better to be close to 150 because tartary buckwheat has robust habitus. Otherwise see buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.)
See buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.)
See buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.)
Tartary buckwheat is much more susceptible to seed fall off than buckwheat. Otherwise see buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.)
See buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.)