On the high mountain peaks of the Western Nghe An region, there are people who quietly and quietly stay day and night, researching, protecting and multiplying hundreds of precious medicinal herbs of Vietnam. The aspiration to make the Western Nghe An region escape poverty, to protect the forests and“give birth to gold", the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry's expansion to the world has motivated businesswoman Thai Huong.–TH Group Chairman is nurturing a big project…
Puxailaileng Peak is located 2,720m above sea level - the highest peak north of Truong Son peak in Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son, Nghe An. This place contains many mysteries of mother nature with ancient forests remaining on the mountain top covered in clouds all year round. About 15km from Puxailaileng Peak is the Buoc Mu Border Guard Station of Na Ngoi Border Guard Station. Here, border guards work day and night to guard the border in the cold fog of winter when the temperature drops to tens of degrees Celsius.
On the other side of the border station is the beautiful neighboring country of Laos. Next to the Buoc Mu Border Station, few people know that a few years ago, when the road was still full of rocks and boulders that could fall from the mountain top to the road whenever there was heavy rain, the feet of people who planted and cultivated precious medicinal herbs in Nghe An province came here, staying in this border area. A protective forest at the top of the mountain is a stop to start the journey to conquer Puxailaileng, "making Puxailaileng more splendid" as Ms. Thai Huong - Chairwoman of TH Group, a powerful businesswoman in Asia, thought.
Businesswoman Thai Huong - Chairman of TH Group with dozens of large projects, always a pioneer in the Vietnamese agricultural industry, a leader in the trend of clean agriculture and clean milk, said: Pressing my feet meter by meter down each layer of mud on the road up the mountain, I have come to check, urge and grasp the situation of planting and developing medicinal herbs here many times. From Hanoi, I drove straight to Nghe An and then to Muong Long, Na Ngoi... Back then, it took a whole day from Vinh to get to Na Ngoi because the road was extremely difficult, I could only see clouds and mountains, but when I saw my colleagues in the company passionately researching, sticking with it, and being dedicated, when I saw dozens of hectares of precious medicinal herbs blooming and growing well under the forest canopy, I was happy to find a new path for the West. From then on, I was not discouraged, I encouraged my colleagues to stay, continue to invest, and multiply this treasure. I hope that from these medicinal herb forests, the mountains and forests will bloom. That is also the most practical direction for medicinal herbs under the forest canopy - a major policy of the Party and State".
Following her directions, we saw hectares of medicinal herb forests expanding under the forest canopy. There were Puxailaileng ginseng, Morinda officinalis, yellow flower tea, Codonopsis pilosula, seven-leaf one-flower ginseng, Angelica sinensis, Panax notoginseng, Mint, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Chrysanthemum, Chua Du, Xasya, Achyranthes aspera, Roselle, Poria cocos, Panax pseudoginseng, Purple orchid…
In particular, the purple orchid is a precious medicinal herb. According to records, this herb was once considered the top of the list of precious medicinal herbs by the Empress Dowager Cixi of China, and has multiplied into tens of thousands of plants under the forest canopy on Puxailaileng Mountain.
In July, the weather in Nghe An is hot, but in Na Ngoi, it rains lightly and is cool. The purple orchids are planted by the engineers here on large trees to grow healthily, peacefully, absorbing natural air and producing flowers and leaves without watering. The length of this purple orchid is about 20-30cm when mature. When harvested, the whole purple orchid is processed into medicine or used fresh to improve health.
According to the documents we read, the purple orchid is the most highly valued species and also has the greatest economic value being cultivated and propagated by TH Group. This plant is harvested whole, has the effect of nourishing the body, strengthening tendons and bones, nourishing blood, curing stomach pain..., can be used to cook porridge, soak the whole plant in wine or processed into other combined medicines.
At 6am, the Ky Son hills were still covered in mist, we were awakened by the urgent working atmosphere of workers and local people coming to the camp to weed, hoe the land, and take care of medicinal herbs. Dozens of Mong workers worked from early morning, they hoe the land to plant perilla, codonopsis, and other more common medicinal herbs. The special feature of medicinal herbs is that they do not use pesticides and chemical fertilizers, so they must be planted by hand and use organic fertilizers. Each tiny medicinal sprout is mixed in the grass, so the workers have to continuously weed and plant new layers every week after harvesting.
In precious medicinal herb gardens such as seven-leaf one-flower ginseng and Puxailaileng ginseng, the care requires specialized engineers to monitor carefully to ensure humidity, air, light and nutritional conditions suitable for the weather. Following engineer Nguyen Trong Canh, former Captain of the 8th Youth Volunteer Team of Huoi Tu, Ky Son, to join the TH Group to make medicinal herbs, currently Deputy General Director of Muong Long Medicinal Herbs Joint Stock Company, we were able to see hundreds of precious medicinal herbs growing well under the forest canopy. The climate is cool all year round and the altitude is more than 2,000m above sea level, the plants here are green and completely clean, the vegetation is thick, the humidity is high, the nutrients in the soil are good so the plants sprout.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Canh said that in Na Ngoi, over 200,000 purple orchid clumps have been planted using the method of attaching them to forest trees on an area of 13.0 hectares. Currently, the orchids are growing well, including 5 hectares of Panax pseudoginseng, 1.3 hectares of Codonopsis pilosula, and nearly 1,000 yellow tea trees that are 1 year old under the sparse forest canopy. In addition, the company has also planted some precious medicinal plants such as: 1,000 Puxailaileng ginseng plants, 5,000 golden orchid plants, and 500m of seven-leaf, one-flower ginseng.2, approximately 500m2,… these are native plants so they grow very well. In addition, the company also experiments with growing some plants such as Ngoc Linh ginseng from seeds and tubers,…
In Muong Long, 17.8 hectares of doi and 2,000m of2Panax notoginseng, 2 hectares of Gynostemma pentaphyllum, 3 hectares of Shan Tuyet tea, 1 hectare of Japanese angelica, 1.2 hectares of Codonopsis pilosula, 0.5 hectares of Salvia miltiorrhiza, various types of perilla, chrysanthemum, Chinese clematis, Chinese clematis, black turmeric, black ginger, Panax notoginseng, red polygonum multiflorum, Scrophularia ningpoensis, Amomum japonicus, purple orchid... Besides, the company is building a conservation area for growing medicinal plants, and has so far grown over 40 types of medicinal herbs: Ginkgo biloba, Chua du, large-leafed spoonwort, wild wolfberry, velvet antler, big-leafed siliqua, red royal star... Every year, the company purchases 4.0 - 5.0 tons of wild lingzhi mushrooms, 8.0 - 10 tons of Gynostemma pentaphyllum, nearly 10 tons of passionflower, 5-6 tons of taro, 5-6 tons of Acacia aurantium leaves for the people.
“Slow but steady” is the motto that TH Group (TH Group) has implemented projects under over the years. With the mission of pioneering and leading the world trend in clean production, the group’s projects always focus on sustainable development, applying modern technology with the help of the world’s leading experts. “For me, doing business must bring “true happiness”, I do not pursue profit but always put the national interest in mind, pioneer in protecting the health of consumers, I always hope that each TH product that comes to consumers is “true happiness” – businesswoman Thai Huong shared.
No sooner said than done, right in Muong Long, an extraction and processing factory was established to produce herbs completely from nature. Ganoderma tea, chrysanthemum tea - passionflower, ginger tea, ginseng tea and other medicinal herbs and essential oils have been gradually processed and brought to consumers. Few people know that in this remote mountainous area, every day there are engineers researching, extracting, purchasing, processing, packaging and transporting products to Hanoi and other major cities for consumption. We were surprised to see wild Ganoderma mushrooms being carried by local people to sell to the company every day. Gynostemma pentaphyllum, passionflower... are all purchased entirely from the mountains and forests.
“I chose agriculture – the most difficult field to develop and I have been successful in Vietnam and in the world. Currently, our group develops in many other fields such as health, education, tourism… but always puts people's health first. Grasping the national strategy on developing medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, I took the lead in taking on the task as a mission. To do this, I first had to build a stable and wide source of raw materials, enough to supply the factories. Second, I invested in an extraction factory that applied the world's advanced technology under the supervision of experts. The products of the group are processed according to US FDA standards, which are the highest standards for health safety,” said businesswoman Thai Huong.
After having a processing plant, the group established a 5-star general hospital, a high-class spa resort, a university and a cancer research center, implementing a new way of thinking about health care, both implementing preventive medicine, treating diseases, early diagnosis and the best post-treatment care. The group developed the pharmaceutical industry with sustainable pillars, ensuring from production to consumption. A tight chain from production to domestic and international markets has been planned.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the world has increasingly recognized the role of health and health care with natural medicinal herbs. And the High-tech Medical Ecology Center performs functions not only as a 5-star international quality hospital, a health care center, a high-class resort, but also has the task of preserving and developing high-quality medicinal herbs. Many people when coming to Na Ngoi, Muong Long, Ky Son are worried because this place is too high, too far to be able to maintain production activities. But with TH Group, a strategic project has been formed and is regularly visited, inspected and encouraged by the Group's Chairman. Besides, there are also customers and partners coming to witness, experience, and cooperate for development.
We learned that the total value of the world's medicinal herbs market is currently estimated at 120 billion USD, with an average annual growth rate of 10-12%. The World Bank predicts that by 2050 the total value of the medicinal herbs market will be 5,000 billion USD. The current world trend is to prevent diseases rather than cure them, and functional products have great potential for consumption. Therefore, functional foods with clear origins and natural extracts are very valuable. Precious Vietnamese medicinal herbs that are being preserved and developed such as Ngoc Linh ginseng, Puxailaileng ginseng, Dang Sam, Lan Thach Hoc Purple... will have great economic value.
Saying goodbye to Ky Son with its rolling hills and mountains, peach and plum forests intoxicated with a new flowering season, a joyful feeling in the heart about a new direction for the West, which is medicinal herbs under the forest canopy and there are still many difficulties, but like the projects led by TH Group, this direction always has a mission, is sustainable, serving the green economy and human health.
