Developing medicinal plants helps reduce poverty sustainably

Thanks to the cultivation of medicinal plants, the people of Cam Lo have risen out of poverty and achieved sustainable wealth.

Linking with farming households helps people reduce poverty.

According to the leaders of the Cam Lo District People's Committee, sustainable poverty reduction has become a top political priority, aiming to improve the quality of life for the people. Over the past period, the district has consistently focused on implementing the Party and State's policies and directives on poverty reduction through various solutions and plans tailored to the local reality. By the end of 2022, the poverty rate in the entire district had decreased from 10.98% (in 2015) to 2.82%, with no policy-beneficiary households falling back into poverty.

According to Mr. Le Phuc Nhat, a farmer in Cam Nghia commune, Cam Lo district, he cultivates 1.4 hectares of An Xoa (a type of medicinal plant), yielding 20 tons per year and generating an income of 240 million VND in the first year. After the initial investment, subsequent years yielded higher incomes: 360 million VND in the second year and 480 million VND in the third year. In addition to medicinal products, he also runs a nursery for tissue-cultured acacia trees, adding another 240 million VND per year to his income.

Ms. Le Hong Nhan - founder of An Xuan Organic Medicinal Herbs Co., Ltd., next to her certified Gynostemma pentaphyllum garden.

As one of the pioneers in medicinal herb cultivation, Ms. Le Hong Nhan, founder of An Xuan Organic Medicinal Herb Company Limited (Cam Lo town, Cam Lo district), said that since 2015, her family has boldly converted more than 5 hectares of unproductive hillside land to cultivate Solanum torvum (Solanum procumbens). By 2020, it had become a company, developing the cultivation of Solanum torvum intercropped with forest trees such as cinnamon and sandalwood. Thanks to cultivation and care according to organic standards meeting GACP-WHO, the results are highly effective, bringing in annual revenue of approximately 3.5 billion VND and creating jobs for 20 regular local workers with an income of 6 million VND/month. In addition, the company has transferred technology to some households in other areas and the Bru-Van Kieu ethnic minority in Ban Chua village, Cam Tuyen commune, creating livelihoods for the people.

Another example is the Truong Son Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, which previously grew cassava and other crops inefficiently, then switched to cultivating and processing medicinal herbs such as Melaleuca alternifolia and Melaleuca alternifolia, expanding its raw material area to 30 hectares by 2023. The factory's production scale is 3000 ^m² , producing 3,600 kg of various essential oils per year (1,500 kg of Melaleuca alternifolia, 1,500 kg of lemongrass, 600 kg of camphor, etc.), and 35,000 medicinal herb products per year (12,000 massage oils, 12,000 medicated oils, 7,000 herbal shampoos, etc.), with a revenue of 6.3 billion VND in 2022. The cooperative's large scale is due to its linkage with 300 households in Cam Thanh and Cam Thuy communes in cultivating raw materials, creating jobs for local people with an income of 65 million VND per person per year…

Ms. Thai Thi Tieu Lan, Deputy Director of Truong Son Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, operates the production line for Moc Son massage oil and medicated balm.

Affirming the strengths of medicinal plants and developing into a medicinal plant center.

Over the years, taking advantage of its favorable land, climate, and water resources, Cam Lo district has focused on converting large areas of forest land and barren land to medicinal plant cultivation. Medicinal plant cultivation not only meets over 80% of the local population's raw material needs and serves export purposes, but also yields significantly higher economic returns compared to traditional agricultural products.

In 2022, the district expanded the cultivation of An Xoa (a type of medicinal plant) by 14.2 hectares, bringing the total area to 17.7 hectares; the average yield was 150 quintals/hectare, with some areas achieving yields of up to 200 quintals/hectare. A pilot project was also implemented to plant 127.8 hectares of cinnamon trees. In addition, the district continued to direct the planting of several other medicinal plants to assess their long-term development potential.

Mr. Le Phuc Nhat planted 1.4 hectares of An Xoa trees out of a total of 17.7 hectares in the entire district, yielding significantly higher economic returns compared to traditional agricultural products.

Previously, the cultivation and processing of medicinal plants were small-scale and fragmented. Now, medicinal plants have become one of the main crops in the locality. To date, the area of medicinal plants in the district is over 200 hectares, with some plants having high economic value such as cinnamon, bitter tea, milk thistle, Anxoa plant, purple ginseng, Dinh Lang plant, and red Polygonum multiflorum...

In 2023, focus on planning and investing in infrastructure for concentrated production areas, especially for medicinal plants, striving to build 1-2 model projects to create a highlight for the model new rural district. Continue directing the development of the Medicinal Plant Development Project; at the same time, continue monitoring the pilot planting of cinnamon to have a basis for developing a Cinnamon Development Project in the area. Strongly develop the medicinal plant area by expanding and improving the quality of existing medicinal plants and effective experimental medicinal plants; expand the area of five-veined Melaleuca to 20 hectares; continue to search for new plant species, strongly develop medicinal plants in an organic direction to gradually make Cam Lo the medicinal plant center of the province, creating breakthroughs in development to increase production value, accelerate development speed and contribute to increasing income for people.

Chairman of the Cam Lo District People's Committee, Tran Anh Tuan, said: "By 2025, Cam Lo district plans to develop a specialized medicinal plant cultivation area of 500 hectares, including: 100 hectares of bitter tea, 200 hectares of An Xoa plant, 50 hectares of Solanum torvum, 100 hectares of Melaleuca alternifolia, and 50 hectares of other medicinal plants."

The district plans to develop medicinal plants as a key strategic direction, focusing on specialized cultivation in concentrated raw material areas of approximately 200 hectares to supply medicinal extract processing facilities in the area. The district's goal is to strive to become the medicinal plant center of Quang Tri province as soon as possible.”

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