Spinach is one of the favorite crops for farmers to cultivate. This is because spinach plants have a fast harvest period so farmers can get fast income.
Interested in trying to start cultivation with fast-harvesting plants like spinach? This article is really appropriate for you to read to the end so that you know the correct steps and methods for planting spinach so that the spinach plants grow well!
Judging from data from the Central Statistics Agency, spinach production fluctuates from year to year, tends to increase. Even though there was a decline, it did not experience a significant decline.
BPS noted that the decline in spinach in 2022 will only be 0.3% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the highest production figure was recorded in 2022 with 171,210 tons.
This is very profitable for farmers, planting spinach has a short harvest period and spinach is much needed by the community. Spinach can be processed in various ways for consumption, for example into stir-fries, vegetables, and can even be processed into chips which can increase economic value.
Spinach also has high nutritional content. So, it's not surprising that spinach is a favorite dish in every home and restaurant. In 100 grams of spinach leaves, we can get 39.9 protein, 358 mg calcium, 2.4 mg iron, 0.8 mg zinc, 18 mg vitamin A, 62 mg vitamin C (Yang, Kedding, 2009).
Types of Spinach Plants
Spinach originating from America has been cultivated since 6700 BC. Spinach or the Latin word Amaranthus Caudatus has benefits in maintaining bone health, is anti-inflammatory, and is good for digestion.
In fact, there are various types of spinach which has many benefits. To start cultivating, you can first get to know the types of spinach.
Wild Spinach
Spinach contains folate and vitamin K which are useful for brightening the skin. So, it's not surprising that spinach can be used in the beauty industry. Well, don't make a mistake, okay? The type of spinach used in the beauty industry is wild spinach.
Wild spinach differs from cultivated spinach because of its bitter taste. Examples of wild spinach include spinach and ground spinach.
The characteristics of wild spinach include:
Grows as a weed in agricultural land
Has red leaves
The leaves are stiff
Spinach has thorns at the base of the stem
The plant has single leaves and is greenish in color
Cultivated Spinach
There are two types of spinach that are often cultivated, namely spinach and spinach.
Pulled Spinach
Pulled spinach is one of the spinach that is often found in markets or consumed by many people. This type of spinach can grow throughout the season. The characteristics of spinach are that it has flowers in the leaf axils, the stem color is greenish white to red, and the leaves are slightly round in shape and thick in size.
Year Spinach
Other terms for year spinach include Dutch spinach, shovel spinach or snapper spinach. This type of spinach has wide, rather long leaves, pointed leaf tips, and is green or red in color. Usually green spinach which has large leaves is often used to make spinach chips.
