Potential of medicinal plants in Son La

Currently, taking advantage of support resources from national target programs, especially the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the period 2021-2030; Phase I: 2021-2025, many farmers and Cooperatives (Cooperatives) in Son La province have boldly converted to exploiting and processing natural medicinal products. This is one of the new directions, promising to open the way for economic development in the province's ethnic minority areas. Storm No. 3 (Yagi) has caused about 45,000 livestock and poultry in the mountainous district of Tien Yen (Quang Ninh) to be swept away by floods, most of which are chickens that are ready to be sold. This leads to a great risk of a shortage of chicken supply on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2025 when people do not have enough time to restore their flocks. Party committees, authorities at all levels and ethnic people of Hau Giang province need to promote self-reliance, self-reliance, love, mutual assistance, trust and join hands, unanimously carry out the tasks in the Resolution Letter, practically make achievements to welcome the Party Congresses at all levels, towards the 14th National Party Congress and major political and historical events of the country. This is the proposed opinion of Deputy Minister, Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Nong Thi Ha, speaking at the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Hau Giang province, 2024, which took place this morning, November 1, at the Hau Giang Provincial Convention Center. Currently, taking advantage of support resources from national target programs, especially the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030; Phase I: 2021-2025, many farmers and cooperatives in Son La province have boldly converted to exploiting and processing natural medicinal products. This is one of the new directions, promising to open the way for economic development in the province's ethnic minority areas. In order to reduce early marriage and consanguineous marriage (TH-HNCHT), in recent years, the Department of Education and Training of Kim Boi district has strengthened propaganda work on TH-HNCHT, bringing sex education content into schools. Thereby, raising awareness for students, limiting the situation of students dropping out of school to get married. Since the beginning of the year, with the effective implementation of policies to support job creation and maintain jobs for workers; Connecting labor supply and demand, helping businesses recruit workers and workers find suitable jobs, the entire Cao Bang province has supported job creation for 13,574 workers. This morning (November 1), the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Hau Giang province - 2024 officially opened. Attending and giving speeches at the Congress were: Deputy Minister, Vice Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Committee Nong Thi Ha; representatives of the Department of Ethnic Minorities and the Department of Local Ethnic Affairs under the Ethnic Minorities Committee. Phuoc Trung is one of the particularly difficult communes of Bac Ai district ( Ninh Thuan ), with more than 90% of the population being ethnic minorities, mainly Raglay ethnic group. Recently, thanks to the accelerated implementation of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period (National Target Program 1719), the lives of the Raglay people in the area have been increasingly improved, hundreds of households have risen out of poverty, contributing to the prosperity of the locality. The summary news of the Ethnic Minority and Development Newspaper, on October 31, has the following notable information: Tradition and contemporary intermingling at the Ninh Binh Festival 2024. So that tourists no longer get lost on Lang Biang peak. People who raise the level of Muong Dong medicinal products. Along with other current news in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Thuan Chau is the district with the largest number of communes in Son La province, with a large area, including 24/29 communes in region III, with 271 particularly difficult villages; ethnic minorities account for over 94% of the district's population. Over the past years, Thuan Chau district has been making efforts to implement national target programs (NTP), including the NTP on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, phase 1: From 2021-2025 (abbreviated as NTP 1719). As of September 30, the total capital mobilized by the Transaction Office of the Bank for Social Policies (CSXH) of Nghia Lo town in the area reached 543,815 million VND, equal to 99.3% of the yearly plan; disbursed 2,324 customers with an amount of 122,959 million VND, outstanding loans reached 542,565 million VND, equal to 99.36% of the plan, an increase of 48,729 million VND compared to the beginning of the year. The growth rate reached 9.87%. Credit quality is maintained, the overdue debt rate is below 0.1%. Hung Loi is a particularly difficult commune of Yen Son district (Tuyen Quang), with a total of 1,730 households and 7,839 people. The commune's socio-economic situation mainly depends on agricultural production, the Mong ethnic group accounts for over 50% of the population, and people's lives in the commune face many difficulties. On October 31, the Vietnam Women's Museum organized a media event "Sunshine on the Mountain" at Bac Ha Secondary and High School, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province. The event is within the framework of Project 8 "Implementing gender equality and solving urgent issues for women and children", chaired and implemented by the Vietnam Women's Union. In 2 days (October 29 and 30, 2024), the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Binh Thuan province organized the first provincial-level contest to learn about laws on ethnic affairs in 2024. The contest had the participation of 105 contestants from 7 groups: Tuy Phong, Bac Binh, Ham Thuan Bac, Ham Thuan Nam, Ham Tan, Tanh Linh and Duc Linh.

Angelica planting model at Phuong Ngan Clean Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, Moc Chau district.

Promoting the advantages of available natural resources

In Pa Lo village, Ca Nang commune, Quynh Nhai district, established in 2022 with 11 members, Nhan Thuan Cooperative initially carried out aquaculture. After learning and studying the experiences of businesses and cooperatives with effective medicinal plant development models, the leaders of Nhan Thuan Cooperative decided to open a new direction of development, by planting Millennium trees under the forest canopy.

To continue developing medicinal plants, Sop Cop district is continuing to coordinate with functional units to research plant species suitable for local climate and soil conditions; focusing on attracting investors in the field of planting, preliminary processing, and processing medicinal plants. At the same time, promoting, introducing, and finding markets for products from medicinal plants, thereby creating a stable source of income for ethnic minorities.

Mr. Dao Dinh Thi, Chairman of Sop Cop District People's Committee, said

According to Mr. Lo Van Chau, Director of Nhan Thuan Cooperative, thanks to the application of science and technology in the process of planting and caring for the Millennium tree (green hemp tree), in 2023, the Cooperative harvested 2 crops, the dry bark yield reached 30 quintals/ha/crop, the output was 9 tons/2 crops; the dry leaf yield reached 50 quintals/ha/crop, the output was 15 tons/2 crops. The total revenue from the bark and leaves of the green hemp tree averaged 450 million VND, after deducting investment costs; the income reached 390 million VND.

In 2024, the Cooperative expects to earn over 400 million VND from the Millennium tree, ensuring an average income for members of 5-7 million VND/person/month; striving to expand the medicinal plant growing area to about 100 hectares by 2025. At the same time, applying scientific and technical advances to create quality and safe products.

Also in 2022, Ms. Luong Thi Chuong, Director of the Muong La District Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, made a bold decision. That was to establish a cooperative to produce medicinal teas, meeting the people's need to use medicinal herbs to improve their health.

From idea to decision, with passion and enthusiasm, female Director Luong Thi Chuong has created new products from the abundant natural resources of the locality, including Hawthorn Tea...

According to Ms. Tong Thi Tich, a member of the Muong La District Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, ripe hawthorn berries are the best choice to make hawthorn tea, because then the tea will have a fragrant, sweet and sour taste, a red-yellow color, meeting the standards for making tea.

In addition to Hawthorn Tea, which is a typical rural industrial product of Son La province in 2023, Muong La District Mountain Medicinal Herbs Cooperative also researches formulas and processes for processing herbal teas, shampoos, and bath oils from available medicinal plants such as soapberry, lemon, ginger, lemongrass, and polygonum multiflorum...

In recent years, the attention to investment, exploitation and processing of medicinal herbs has not only created new products and created more jobs for people, but also helped to promote the advantages of available natural resources. At the same time, it has contributed to promoting socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas of Son La province.

Resources from the National Target Program 1719 have been helping Son La province develop medicinal plants (Photo: Son La Newspaper).

Motivated by the National Target Program 1719

Son La province currently has over 1,000 species of medicinal plants, many of which have high economic value, such as: Cardamom, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Angelica sinensis, Amomum, Polyscias fruticosa, Morinda officinalis... Currently, the work of preserving and developing medicinal plants has initially received attention from authorities at all levels, relevant sectors and the people.

In particular, many localities in the province have taken advantage of important resources from national target programs, especially resources from the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period (National Target Program 1719).

As in Sop Cop district, in the period of 2021 - 2023, the district was assigned more than 120 billion VND to implement the National Target Program 1719. In addition to focusing on investing in the construction of infrastructure and traffic works to serve production, business and people's lives, Sop Cop district especially focuses on promoting the potential and advantages of climate and soil conditions to develop models of linking the cultivation of medicinal plants such as codonopsis, khôi nhung, cat sam, fo-ti...

From the capital of the National Target Program 1719, Sop Cop district has mobilized ethnic minorities to develop models of linking medicinal plant cultivation. In particular, the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Son La province coordinated with the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to promote propaganda and mobilize cooperatives and households to convert low-yield crop land to medicinal plant cultivation or intercropping medicinal plants with unharvested fruit trees to increase value per unit area. Up to now, the whole Sop Cop district has over 60 hectares of cinnamon trees, 16 hectares of cardamom trees, 20 hectares of ginger, 4 hectares of polygonum multiflorum, cat ginseng, khoi nhung, and codonopsis.

Mr. Dao Dinh Thi, Chairman of the People's Committee of Sop Cop district, said that in order to continue developing medicinal plants, Sop Cop district is continuing to coordinate with functional units to research plant species suitable for local climate and soil conditions; focusing on attracting investors in the field of planting, preliminary processing, and processing medicinal plants. At the same time, promoting, introducing, and finding markets for products from medicinal plants, thereby creating a stable source of income for ethnic minorities.

In the period of 2020 - 2025, Son La province has set aside 250 billion VND from the budget to focus on developing 55 large-scale medicinal plants with high economic value and conserving 86,292 hectares of special-use forests with medicinal plants under the forest canopy. The Chairman of the People's Committee of Son La province issued a Decision approving the project to plan the development of medicinal plants in Son La province until 2020, with a vision to 2030. The People's Council of Son La province issued support mechanisms and policies through many resolutions on specific policies to encourage enterprises and cooperatives to invest in developing medicinal plants in Son La province to call for and attract investment in medicinal plants.

Son La: Creating breakthroughs to develop production according to the value chain

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/tiem-nang-tu-cay-duoc-lieu-o-son-la-1730343862463.htm