QUẢNG NAM — Nam Trà My District in Quảng Nam Province will host the first monthly Ngọc Linh ginseng market from September 29 to October 1.

The chairman of the district people’s committee, Hồ Quang Bửu, told Việt Nam News the market in the south central province would provide a meeting point for tourists, investors, traders and local growers of Panax vietnamensis, better known as Vietnamese ginseng.

He said the market, to be held every month between the 10th and 12th, would help boost the sale of local medical herbs, farm produce and forestry products, as well as improve the living standard of ethnic groups in the mountainous district.

“We will allocate the culture and sport centre in the district to display farm produce, ginseng and herbs at 20 pavilions. Villagers will bring their products to introduce and sell at the market under strict control of quality and brand,” Bửu said.

Ngọc Linh ginseng, grown both in Nam Trà My District in Quảng Nam and Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands, has been designated a national brand.

Earlier this year, the district introduced the first ever Ngọc Linh ginseng and medical herbs centre in Trà Mai Commune as a major source of seed and saplings.

The district plans to develop 15,000ha of ginseng farm in seven mountain communes by 2030. According to district authorities, more than 42,000ha of primary forests have been well preserved in development of the ginseng and native herbs.

National brand: Farmers grow Ngọc Linh ginseng on a mountain farm in Nam Trà My Distric of Quảng Nam Province. The district plans to hold regular monthly Ngọc Linh ginseng markets starting in September. VNS Văn Thọ

Quảng Nam also plans to invest in infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, essential oils and cosmetics, as well as tonic drinks and capsules from ginseng in the district.

In 2015, Nam Trà My District and Hamyang County in South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on tourism, agriculture, conservation and the development of Ngọc Linh ginseng.

In 2016, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Intellectual Property Agency of Việt Nam recognised the Geographical Indication (GI) of  "Ngọc Linh" for ginseng root products from Quảng Nam and Kon Tum.

Last year, seven investors agreed to invest $221 million to farm ginseng and process plants of essential oils, cosmetics, tonic drinks and capsules from ginseng in the district.

Quảng Nam has listed the Ngọc Linh ginseng as one of eight precious and endangered flora genes, that also include Ba Kích (poor man’s ginseng), pepper, cinnamon, large-size rattan and white maize in the provincial conservation programme for 2014-20.

More than 200kg of ginseng root were sold at the first Ngọc Linh Ginseng Festival in the district in June, earning VNĐ12.5 billion (US$553,000). — VNS