Difficult to expand medicinal plant area in western districts of Nghe An

Difficult to expand area

Muong Long Commune, DistrictKy Sonhas very favorable climate and soil conditions for the development of medicinal plants. However, in reality, the development of medicinal plants in this locality has only stopped at experimental planting through the coordination between the Department of Science and Technology of Nghe An and Muong Long Medicinal Plants Joint Stock Company under TH Group.

Mr. Ho Ba Re, residing in Muong Long 2 village, has more than 2 hectares of land near his house where he has only grown peaches and plums and grazed cows. Mr. Re said that although he has heard about the development of medicinal plants, his family still does not know where to start and what to plant.

Muong Long area (Ky Son) has favorable climate and soil conditions for medicinal plants to grow. Photo: Tien Dong

Full versionMuong Long2 has more than 200 households and almost every house has a garden, of which about 20 houses have large gardens. However, when it comes to expanding the development of medicinal plant cultivation, everyone shakes their heads. Because in reality, because no unit has confirmed the output guarantee for the people, no one grows them.

Muong Long commune has 13 villages, of which 5 villages are concentrated around the central valley area of ​​the commune. Here, the authorities and units have planted and tested 12 different medicinal herbs such as Puxailaileng ginseng, 7-leaf 1-flower plant, Panax pseudoginseng, purple orchid, angelica, codonopsis, red salvia, la han qua, red polygonum multiflorum... However, it has not been possible to expand to a large area for many people to participate.

Although the commune has planned the medicinal plant growing area according to the direction of the district and province, in reality, no households have participated in the planting and exploitation of medicinal plants, causing the potential and advantages to not be exploited.

Mr. Va Cha Xa - Chairman of Muong Long Commune People's Committee

Not only Muong Long, in Ky Son district there are many areas that are very favorable for the development of medicinal plants, such as Na Ngoi, Keng Du, Huoi Tu, Nam Can, Tay Son... However, the idea of ​​making medicinal plants a spearhead of this locality is still just an idea.

Mr. Vi Van Oanh - Head of the Department of Agriculture of Ky Son district said: Recently, some units have surveyed this area to grow medicinal herbs, but have not implemented anything yet. According to Mr. Oanh, in fact, medicinal plants require a longer cultivation time than short-term agricultural crops, if the output is not guaranteed, no one will dare to grow them.

Experimental planting of Gynostemma pentaphyllum in Ky Son district. Photo: Tien Dong

In Que Phong district in 2016, this locality built the Project "Conservation and development of medicinal plantswith high economic value in the period 2016 - 2020", including yellow tea trees. The district's goal is to plant 5 hectares of yellow tea trees by 2020, achieving a yield of 7.5 quintals, with an investment cost of more than 140 million VND per hectare, while protecting 90 hectares. However, after the project ended, the result was only preserving 81.3/90 hectares; only 2/5 hectares of new plantings achieved the set target. In which, mainly concentrated in the communes of Dong Van, Thong Thu, Tien Phong, Muong Noc, Chau Kim. Although the economic value of yellow tea trees is very large, 1 kg of dried flowers can cost up to 3-4 million VND, it is very difficult to replicate on a large scale, because the seedlings are not proactive, in addition, the survival rate of yellow tea trees is very low, while the cost of seedlings is very high.

Need for business involvement

Mr. Phan Trong Dung - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district said that although medicinal plants have high economic value, people can intercrop under the forest canopy, but because they do not yield immediate harvest, it is difficult to attract people. Not to mention that due to uncertainty about the output, people do not dare to expand the area.

Caring for spoon plants in Con Cuong district. Photo: Tien Dong

Talking about the development of medicinal plant areas, Mr. Lo Kham Kha - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuong Duong district had to sigh. Mr. Kha said that there are many medicinal plants under the canopy of Tuong Duong forest that have better medicinal properties than in other places, but the problem is that there is no investment to turn them into commodities.

In fact, the whole district of Tuong Duong has more than 222,000 hectares of forest, the development of medicinal plants under the forest canopy is one of the local orientations. There have been many business delegations and research delegations to survey and evaluate but have not yet reached the bottom of the problem. The people themselves cannot just plant and develop en masse without a commitment to the output of medicinal plants.

People harvest medicinal herbs in Con Cuong district. Photo: Tien Dong

On April 3, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1187/QD-UBND approving the Master Plan for the development of medicinal herbs in Nghe An province until 2025, with a vision to 2030. According to this Plan, the goal is to conserve 38 medicinal plant species with a total area of ​​15 hectares in 3 conservation areas including: Lien Hop (Quy Hop), Hanh Dich (Que Phong) and Muong Long (Ky Son). Exploit 17 species and groups of medicinal plants in 13 districts and towns with an expected annual output of about 900 tons. Build a concentrated medicinal plant growing area of ​​14 species and groups of medicinal plants with a total area of ​​905 hectares in 11 districts and towns.

This plan also sets out the goals, tasks and solutions to preserve and develop medicinal herbs in Nghe An province, in which the total area of ​​905 hectares is divided into 3 regions. Including the high mountain area of ​​520 hectares, the medium mountain area of ​​100 hectares and the low mountain area of ​​285 hectares.

The project "Master plan for the development of medicinal plants in Nghe An province to 2025, with a vision to 2030" is consistent with the socio-economic development orientation of the province, the region and the planning of sectors and fields in the province. However, it is necessary to carefully consider the conditions of human resources, natural conditions, socio-economic conditions and the market, to develop medicinal plants in a stable, long-term direction, with large-scale, concentrated and specialized areas. At the same time, it is necessary to call on potential enterprises to join hands with people to close the supply chain of raw materials and create products distributed in the market. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to achieve the expected area and productivity.