Medicinal plants on Chi Linh hill

New crop

Mr. Duong Quang Chien in Da Bac village is one of the pioneers in Hoang Hoa Tham commune to grow medicinal plants. Having studied traditional medicine, Mr. Chien saw that the forests in Chi Linh had many precious medicinal plants that needed to be preserved, so in 2014, he and his wife converted 1 hectare of production forest land to grow medicinal plants. In the beginning, without much experience in planting and caring for them, Mr. Chien learned about the characteristics of each type of plant to adjust the care method, then propagated and planted them himself.

After nearly 10 years, Mr. Chien’s garden alone has thousands of medicinal plants on the upper floors. On the lower floors, Mr. Chien also takes advantage of planting shade-loving plants such as ivy, bitter coptis… Mr. Chien’s family’s fields have also been converted to growing medicinal plants such as honeysuckle, moneywort, Phyllanthus urinaria, and black xạ…

In addition to self-consumption, Mr. Chien also sells finished herbal products to pharmaceutical production units in and outside the province. “My family goes to the forest to find medicinal plants to plant. People who want to plant these medicinal plants can come, I am willing to share the seeds and guide them on how to care for them to preserve the precious medicinal plants,” said Mr. Chien. Every year, after deducting expenses, Mr. Chien’s family earns over 200 million VND from medicinal plants.

Hoang Hoa Tham commune is currently the locality with the largest medicinal plant growing area in Chi Linh city with more than 25 hectares, accounting for about 40% of the medicinal plant growing area of ​​the city. The whole commune currently has 70 households growing medicinal plants, with an average income of over 200 million VND/ha... "From the effectiveness of medicinal plants, Hoang Hoa Tham commune encourages people to change crops and expand the cultivation area according to the plan", said Ms. Tran Thi Bich Thuan, Chairman of Hoang Hoa Tham commune People's Committee.

Chi Linh is also a locality chosen by many units to implement research projects on growing medicinal herbs. In the past 5 years, communes and wards of Chi Linh such as Hoang Hoa Tham, Bac An, Ben Tam, Hoang Tien, Cong Hoa... have been chosen as places to test growing precious medicinal herbs. The Hanoi Center for Research on Cultivation and Processing of Medicinal Plants (Institute of Medicinal Materials) chose Sao Do and Cong Hoa wards to test growing Asparagus cochinchinensis, Dong Lac ward to grow turmeric and Polyscias fruticosa; Bac An and Hoang Hoa Tham communes were chosen to produce medicinal herbs such as honeysuckle according to GACP-WHO standards... When participating in these projects, growers must strictly comply with requirements on plant quality... These projects have also contributed to bringing new medicinal plant varieties to the hills of Chi Linh.

Forming safe medicinal areas

According to statistics, the entire Chi Linh city currently has 64 hectares of medicinal plants with many varieties of plants with high economic value such as honeysuckle, phyllanthus urinaria, black xạ, deer eye... According to preliminary assessments, the economic efficiency from medicinal plants is 3-4 times higher than that of rice and peanut cultivation as before. The special thing when growing medicinal plants requires planting and caring for them to strictly follow the fertilization regime, not using pesticides, contributing significantly to protecting the environment, especially land resources...

Developing medicinal plants is currently considered a new direction for Chi Linh City. Localities with suitable land also encourage people to switch to growing medicinal plants, which both provide economic value and protect the environment, aiming for sustainable economic development.

However, medicinal plant growers are facing difficulties in preserving and processing medicinal plants into dry ones, so when it comes to harvest, they are easily damaged, affecting product quality and selling price...

In order for medicinal plants to bring high value, Chi Linh City is also aiming to plan medicinal plant growing areas and apply high technology to improve product quality. At the same time, taking advantage of the forest ecosystem to form medicinal gardens under the forest canopy in localities with sufficient conditions.

Chi Linh city has many advantages in spiritual tourism, resorts, community tourism... If the medicinal plant area is associated with the development of experiential tourism, it will help add more tourism products, contributing to the development of the local economy.