QUẢNG NAM — Twenty-six businesses in Việt Nam have registered to invest VNĐ5 trillion (US$221 million) in farming and production of Ngọc Linh ginseng in Nam Trà My District of the central province of Quảng Nam.

The chairman of the district, Hồ Quang Bửu, told Việt Nam News that six enterprises have joined a survey on growing Panax vietnamensis (Vietnamese ginseng), while 20 others will invest in pharmaceuticals, essential oils and cosmetics, as well as tonic drinks and capsules from ginseng.

So far, the district has developed 27 farms in three communes, with over 800,000 saplings of ginseng and herbs for local farmers.

Nam Trà My and two other districts in Kon Tum Province – Tu Mơ Rông and Đắk Glei – are designated areas for mass development of the ginseng in mountainous farms at 1.400m to 2,600m above sea level, according to Bửu.

Earlier this year, the district introduced its first Ngọc Linh ginseng and medical herbs centre as a major source of seed and sapplings.

In 2016, the ministry of science and technology’s Intellectual Property Agency recognised the Geographical Indication (GI) of Ngọc Linh for ginseng root products in Quảng Nam and Kon Tum provinces.

The district itself also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on tourism, agriculture, conservation and the development of Ngoc Linh ginseng with Hamyang County in South Korea two years ago.

The district will host the first Ngọc Linh Ginseng Festival – part of cultural events of the sixth Quảng Nam Heritage Festival – on June 13 to 16.

Ginseng was first found on Ngọc Linh Mountain on the border between the Central Highlands Kon Tum Province and Quảng Nam in the late 1960s.— VNS