Folk knowledge about Ngoc Linh ginseng of Quang Nam is included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung has just signed Decision No. 1355/QD-BVHTTDL (dated May 14, 2025) on the announcement of the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Accordingly, the Folk Knowledge of Ngoc Linh Ginseng, Nam Tra My District, Quang Nam is included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung requested the Chairmen of People's Committees at all levels where intangible cultural heritages are included in the List in Article 1 of this Decision, within the scope of their tasks and powers, to carry out state management in accordance with the provisions of law on cultural heritage.

Ngoc Linh ginseng has become a key commodity, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, stabilizing the lives of ethnic minorities in Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam .

Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam Nguyen Thanh Hong said that the folk knowledge of exploiting, growing and processing Ngoc Linh ginseng in Nam Tra My district (Quang Nam) has a heritage distribution location in Nam Tra My district.

Ngoc Linh ginseng growing areas are in the communes of Tra Linh, Tra Nam, Tra Cang, Tra Tap, Tra Don, Tra Leng, Tra Don and Tra Vinh; in which, it is concentrated in Tra Linh commune, Nam Tra My district.

The cultural subjects are the residential communities of the communes: Tra Linh, Tra Cang, Tra Nam, Tra Don, Tra Tap, Tra Leng, Tra Don and Tra Mai in Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province, with 10 representatives.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long (second from left) views the Ngoc Linh ginseng product introduction area at the conference to implement Decision No. 463/QD-TTg dated February 28, 2025 of the Prime Minister on approving the Project "Developing and forming a medicinal plant industry center in Quang Nam province with Ngoc Linh ginseng as the main crop".

Nam Tra My district used to be a part of Tra My district (old) of Quang Nam province. On June 20, 2003, the Government issued Decree No. 72/2003/ND-CP, separating Tra My district of Quang Nam province into two districts: Bac Tra My and Nam Tra My as today.

Nam Tra My is a mountainous district of Quang Nam province, located at about 15 ⁰ 57' North latitude and 108 ⁰ 09' East longitude, nearly 100km southwest of Tam Ky provincial capital. To the east, it borders Son Tay district (Quang Ngai province) and Kon Plong district (Kon Tum province); to the west, it borders Phuoc Son district; to the north, it borders Bac Tra My district; to the south, southwest and southeast, it borders Dak Glei and Tu Mo Rong districts (Kon Tum province).

Nam Tra My district has 10 administrative units, including the communes: Tra Don, Tra Leng, Tra Van, Tra Vinh, Tra Tap, Tra Don, Tra Nam, Tra Cang, Tra Mai, Tra Linh. According to statistics in 2022, the total population of the district is 31,924 people, with 97% being ethnic minorities, mainly the Ca Dong, Xo Dang, Bhnoong, Cor and other ethnic groups.

Ngoc Linh ginseng products are introduced and sold at the Ngoc Linh ginseng market organized by the People's Committee of Nam Tra My district.

According to Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam Nguyen Thanh Hong, Nam Tra My district is known as the capital of Ngoc Linh ginseng, a particularly rare and valuable medicinal herb, with unique characteristics that other ginseng species in the world do not have, a national product, the "green gold" of the country.

In addition to the conditions of climate, soil, altitude, traditional customs and rituals, along with experience and folk knowledge in exploiting, preparing seeds, planting techniques, caring for and processing Ngoc Linh ginseng, the local community has accumulated over time and has been preserved, passed down and developed, contributing to the preservation of precious gene sources and the replication and development of Ngoc Linh ginseng.

Ngoc Linh ginseng has been transplanted to 7 communes of Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam.

Currently, ginseng has been transplanted to 7 communes of Nam Tra My district, creating conditions for people to escape poverty, stabilize their lives, preserve good customs and practices of the people associated with the responsibility of preserving the precious primeval forests of the southern mountainous region of Quang Nam, contributing to maintaining security and social order of the locality.

The knowledge, experience and techniques in breeding, planting, caring for, harvesting and processing Ngoc Linh ginseng are passed down and widely disseminated by local people in the community so that the community can develop the local ginseng growing area and develop a unique product of the mountains and forests here.

Nam Tra My district encourages people to grow ginseng under the forest canopy to combine Ngoc Linh ginseng cultivation to increase income, improve life and protect the forest.

“Folk knowledge in exploiting, growing and processing Ngoc Linh ginseng in Nam Tra My district plays a very important role in the lives of local ethnic minorities in particular, for Quang Nam province and the country in general. At the same time, this is a heritage associated with mountain residents, connecting residents between regions, thereby demonstrating the spirit of national solidarity.

Therefore, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's inclusion of the Folk Knowledge of Ngoc Linh Ginseng in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage will be the basis for contributing to preserving, honoring and promoting the value of intangible cultural heritage of the locality and the nation," said Nguyen Thanh Hong, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tri-thuc-dan-gian-ve-sam-ngoc-linh-quang-nam-duoc-dua-vao-danh-muc-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-post879767.html