Purple ginseng plants in the fields of Thai Hoa

With its easy cultivation and minimal care requirements, after nearly six years of planting and developing in Thai Hoa commune (Lap Thach district), the purple ginseng plant has not only contributed to greening barren land and hills, increasing income for the people, but also opened up a new direction in forestry production in the area.

After numerous visits and field studies at several model farms inside and outside the province, Ms. Tran Thi Hien, Head of Tay Son village, Thai Hoa commune, realized that the purple ginseng plant is very suitable for the local forest land.

In 2019, Ms. Hien and her family boldly converted nearly 1 hectare of forest land, previously planted with eucalyptus trees, to cultivate purple ginseng. This is a valuable medicinal herb, a climbing vine with twining stems, and young stems that are purple in color.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Cynomorium is a familiar ingredient in various remedies, helping to relieve rheumatism, nourish the kidneys, enhance male potency, and strengthen bones and tendons. Additionally, Cynomorium helps alleviate symptoms of joint pain.

The family of Ms. Phan Thi Cham in Thai Hoa commune (Lap Thach district) planted nearly 1 hectare of purple ginseng, yielding economic benefits many times higher than planting acacia or eucalyptus trees.

Ms. Hien shared: Although it's only a trial planting, the Codonopsis pilosula plant is very suitable for the forest soil of Thai Hoa commune. In particular, it requires little care, and the plant's nutrients mainly consist of bio-fertilizer, organic fertilizer, and decomposed straw.

After nearly four years of cultivation, in July 2023, the family's purple ginseng garden yielded a harvest with revenue exceeding 1 billion VND per hectare. After deducting expenses, the profit was over 700 million VND, many times higher than growing eucalyptus and cassava.

Recognizing that purple ginseng is a crop with high economic efficiency and contributes to the development of medicinal resources in the area, Ms. Hien's family continued to acquire more forest land from several households in the village, expanding the area for growing purple ginseng to over 2 hectares.

Simultaneously, we provide technical support and guidance on planting and caring for crops to local people, helping them to diversify their crop structure, thereby increasing income and promoting the economic development of families and the locality.

To facilitate the production and processing of products from the Codonopsis pilosula plant, in 2024, households growing Codonopsis pilosula in Thai Hoa commune formed a Cooperative for growing Codonopsis pilosula medicinal plants in Thai Hoa commune with 6 members to support each other with techniques, seeds, and capital in production and business. To date, nearly 10 households in the commune grow Codonopsis pilosula on their family's forest land with a total area of ​​over 7 hectares.

With guidance and support from the cooperative, in 2023, Ms. Phan Thi Cham's family planted over 2,000 square meters of purple ginseng. The planting and care process has initially yielded positive results because the plant is suitable for the local soil and climate, grows well, and requires little cost. In 2025, Ms. Cham's family plans to expand the model to more than 1 hectare.

Ms. Cham shared: "Purple ginseng is not difficult to grow, but to achieve a high survival rate and good plant growth, growers need to do well from seed selection and soil preparation to plant care, such as installing an automatic irrigation system and using plastic mulch to control weeds. From now until the end of the year, my family will harvest more than 2,000 square meters of ginseng, with expected economic efficiency many times higher than planting eucalyptus or acacia."

Thai Hoa commune has nearly 100 hectares of forest land. In order to exploit the potential and advantages of the locality, in recent years, the commune has promoted propaganda and encouraged people to convert inefficient crop structures to economic forest planting in an intensive manner, applying scientific and technical advancements, and introducing high-economic-value forestry species into production.

At the same time, attention is being paid to greening barren hills and developing areas of regenerated forests, implementing afforestation, planting scattered trees, and planting large timber trees. From 2021 to the present, the locality has planted and supplemented more than 30 hectares of concentrated forest and more than 30,000 scattered trees.

Implement effective support mechanisms to facilitate forest care, management, and protection. Actively educate the public on effective forest fire prevention and control and forest protection. Develop hill and forest-based economies towards farm-based production; maintain and care for fruit tree areas; and develop models for cultivating the medicinal plant *Ba Kich* (a type of medicinal herb) for high economic efficiency.

According to Ha Van Quyet, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Hoa commune: Building on the achievements, the locality continues to encourage people to expand the model of producing purple ginseng and processing products from ginseng roots. We are also mobilizing people to plant, care for, and protect forests, and develop new types of forestry trees suitable to the local conditions and soil, contributing to promoting economic development in the area.

Text and photos: Hong Tinh

Source: http://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/127841/Cay-ba-kich-tim-tren-dong-dat-Thai-Hoa