Vietnam - Made-in-Vietnam ginseng

It is the people of the ethnic Cotu minority in the central province of Quang Nam who discovered the ‘made in Vietnam’ ginseng and acclimatized the plant in their farms.

The tuber of the ginseng called ‘Sam Ba Kich’ (Ba kich ginseng with the scientific name of Morinda Officnalis How) now has high economic value. It is priced at VND400,000 – 500,000 (US$19-24) per kilogram of fresh tuber.

Scientific documents from Dr. Do Tat Loi confirms the Ba Kich ginseng contains strong medicinal benefits and health-giving properties, mainly when used as a tonic for the brain and kidneys and for treatment of rheumatism, pain, and high blood pressure.

The home of Ba Kich ginseng

The Ba Kich ginseng was discovered in 2006 in the wild jungle of Quang Nam’s Tay Giang District on a mountainside at a height of 1,000 meters above sea level.

Over the last few years, locals have stopped chopping down trees in the forest to keep them as a shadow for their ginseng farms. Ba Kich ginseng is a kind of creeper, and thus it is subject to the shade of bigger trees above.

Colau Chon, vice chief of Porning village in Tay Giang, pointed at his ginseng farm and said, “Ginseng farms here are planted right under the foot of wild forests as it is the most suitable living environment of the plant.”

“It can grow together with other wild grass and locals only have to weed grass two or three times a year for their ginseng farms.”

Farmers can harvest ginseng two years after seeding. On average, three stumps produce a kilogram of fresh ginseng tuber, said Briu Ghiem -- chairman of the farmers’ association of Lang Commune.

“Under care, each stump can create a kilogram of fresh tuber,” he added.

But the biggest challenge of ginseng farmers in Tay Giang now is the source of qualified seeds. In the past, scientists at the heath center in Tay Giang helped locals to cultivate seedlings, but this is clearly not their main job.

Unqualified seedlings collected in the wild forests have resulted in a poor rate of survival, less than 70 percent, due to its failure to adapt in the new environment, said Ghiem.

The main source of Ba Kich ginseng supply now comes from the farm of Briu Po in Lang Commune.

“I am now cultivating around 15,000 seedlings of Ba Kich ginseng for the coming new season. This is the first time I have tested multiplying by grains. Earlier, the ginseng creeper could be cut into pieces and planted again, but its survival with this method was not high.”

Po revealed that he was hired by Ph.D Ngo Van Trai from the Hanoi-based Central Medicine Institute to act as a guide in the Tay Giang forests to search for Ba Kich ginseng in 2006. He began planting the ginseng in his garden the following year thanks to his concern that Ba Kich ginseng may become extinct due to widespread hunting.

With a degree in biology studies from Thai Nguyen University, Po could easily acclimatize the plant in his garden.

“In 2011, I sold 20,000 seedlings of Ba Kich ginseng to locals and farmers in Binh Phuoc province in the south and Yen Bai in the north,” Po said. “I can still remember the words of Trai during our searches for the plant in the wild jungle: Locals can escape poverty by planting Ba Kich ginseng if we can find a way to multiply it.”

Now with 6,000 stumps of ginseng in his farm after 3-4 years of research in the remote mountainous area, Po can harvest several hundred fresh Ba Kich ginseng tubers a year, on average.

Nguyen Van Phu, chief of the Tay Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said his agency is mulling the idea of cooperating with Po to establish a nursery garden of Ba Kich ginseng to supply qualified seedlings to locals.

Ba Kich has been selected as a priority plant for developments in Tay Giang and locals will be given financial aid from the State budget to expand their Ba Kich ginseng gardens, Phu added.

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