Developing medicinal herbs along the chain, creating livelihoods for ethnic minorities

Medicinal plant nursery garden of Van Ho Herbal Agricultural Cooperative, Van Ho commune.

Forming medicinal herb growing areas according to value chain

In 2025, the Son La medicinal herbs commodity development sub-project, under the Project "Promoting gender equality through improving the economic efficiency of agricultural production and tourism development (GREAT 2 Son La Project) funded by the Australian Government, will be implemented. VietRAP Medicinal Herbs Joint Stock Company, Lien Hong village, To Mua commune is the implementing partner. The project aims to plant 37.7 hectares of medicinal herbs in 2025, including 7 key species such as: Panax notoginseng, red salvia miltiorrhiza, sand ginseng, angelica, motherwort, purple cardamom, and achyranthes.

GREAT Project monitoring team surveyed medicinal herb area in To Mua commune.

After more than 11 months of implementation, the GREAT Project Management Board has coordinated with consultants and VietRAP Medicinal Materials Joint Stock Company to complete the proposal, consult and submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval as a basis for deployment and implementation; completed the survey and selected the location to implement the medicinal material growing area; completed training on techniques for planting, caring, harvesting, preliminary processing and preserving medicinal materials according to GACP - WHO standards for Company staff, cooperative staff and To Mua and Song Khua commune staff; organized 2 training courses on techniques for planting, caring, harvesting, preliminary processing and preserving medicinal materials according to GACP - WHO standards for households participating in the project.

Up to now, the project has planted 37.7 hectares of medicinal herbs, including 2 hectares of red sage; 5 hectares of sand ginseng; 2 hectares of Panax notoginseng; 20 hectares of purple cardamom; 1 hectare of Achyranthes bidentata; 3.5 hectares of angelica; and 4.2 hectares of motherwort for 128 households in Song Khua and To Mua communes. For motherwort, a short-term medicinal herb, the enterprise and cooperative have purchased the entire output on an area of 4.2 hectares, with a yield of 3.4-4 tons of dry medicinal herbs/hectare, with an average price of 17,000 VND/kg of dry herbs, with a total value of over 554 million VND paid to the people.

GREAT Project survey team surveyed the angelica garden of Van Ho Herbal Agricultural Cooperative.

Mr. Do Trung Kien, Director of Van Ho Herbal Agricultural Cooperative, Lien Hong village, To Mua commune, said: Participating in the project, households are trained in techniques of planting, caring, harvesting, processing and preserving medicinal herbs according to GACP - WHO standards. Notably, the majority of households participating in the project are women and directly participate in important stages such as: Seedling incubation, separation of medicinal herbs, initial processing, which requires meticulousness and high technical compliance. Currently, many women have mastered the process, are proficient and are continuing to register to convert more medicinal herb growing areas.

From a poor household, Ms. Dinh Thi Loan, Suoi Xau village, Song Khua commune, has changed her life since converting 6,000 m² of corn land to grow motherwort. Ms. Loan shared: In the first crop, my family earned more than 60 million VND, three times more than growing corn. Participating in the project, my households and I were able to participate in technical training and receive fertilizer support. The products are purchased on the spot by the Company at good prices. Next crop, I will register to expand another 6,000 m² to grow medicinal herbs.

Women's initiative is one of the criteria that the GREAT project aims to enhance their capacity to play an equal role and have a voice in the family economy.

Enterprises join hands to build sustainable raw material areas

As the leading unit of the chain, VietRAP Son La Medicinal Materials Joint Stock Company has accompanied from the very beginning by directly going to the villages to propagate, guide trial planting and commit to consuming the products. Ms. Le Thi Hai, Deputy Director of the Company, emphasized: GREAT does not only support capital or technology. More importantly, the project helps ethnic minority women, who have little opportunity to access production knowledge, to participate in the value chain in a real way. When they have skills, they have income; when they participate in the technical stage, the quality of the enterprise's products is also better. This is a mutually beneficial two-way relationship.

According to Ms. Hai, before joining GREAT, many plants such as khôi nhung and dang quy had failed due to lack of understanding of the season and technical standards. Thanks to the program, women have been properly trained, boldly produce and are also the force that maintains the best technical discipline.

The company is currently associated with 3 cooperatives and many household groups, aiming to reach 60-70 hectares of medicinal herbs by the end of 2025; by 2027, expanding to more than 200 hectares. The harvested medicinal herbs are purchased by the enterprise and processed according to standards, ensuring added value.

According to the partners, in the past, people worked based on experience, and productivity was uneven. When women received technical training from the project, they worked more systematically, the land was rotated scientifically, and crops were free of pests and diseases. The medicinal value chain was therefore more stable. The GREAT Project delegation highly appreciated the participation of businesses and cooperatives in empowering women through technical training, creating jobs, and promoting gender equality in the community.

GREAT Project Management Board staff surveyed medicinal herb growing households in Song Khua commune.

Ms. Mai Thi Hanh, Deputy Director of the GREAT Project Management Board, said: Through surveys and interviews with partners, cooperatives and representatives of households participating in growing medicinal herbs in To Mua and Song Khua communes, it shows that women are the direct laborers and also the key factor in quality management. Training activities, coaching, and participation in interest groups help them become more confident, have more voice and become the core in the value chain.

The project also recommends that localities and associated units continue to improve the management capacity of cooperatives, especially women's groups; increase technical support according to GACP - WHO standards; expand the model in a sustainable direction, focusing on the consumer market; encourage capable women to become group leaders and community technicians.

Thanks to the close connection between enterprises - cooperatives - households, the model is gradually forming an organized medicinal herb production community, helping ethnic minority women improve their capacity, increase their income and affirm their economic role in the family.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/nong-nghiep/phat-trien-duoc-lieu-theo-chuoi-lien-ket-tao-sinh-ke-cho-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-kagvaaZvg.html