Farmers grow medicinal plants under natural forest canopies in Nam Sơn Commune in Hà Nội's Sóc Sơn District. Photo courtesy of Hà Nội’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

HÀ NỘI – Hà Nội’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development emphasised that with its strengths in medicinal plant development, it needs to implement policies to support the conservation and restoration of rare medicinal plant species while also producing certain specialised medicinal plants to attract business investments in this sector.

Việt Nam is recognised for its diverse medicinal plant resources, with over 5,100 species, offering great potential in developing medicinal plants into a significant economic sector.

Hà Nội is one of the localities with a large, rich and diverse medicinal plant resource base. Currently, the city has about 250 hectares dedicated to growing medicinal plants, mainly in districts and towns such as Sóc Sơn, Phú Xuyên, Đông Anh, Sơn Tây, Quốc Oai, Chương Mỹ and Ba Vì.

The types of medicinal plants are relatively varied, including species like cà gai leo (Solanum procumbens), honeysuckle, đinh lăng (polyscias fruiticose), golden camelia and jasmine.

The genetic resources of medicinal plants in Hà Nội are quite diverse, with over 170 genetic sources, concentrated mainly in the districts of Sóc Sơn and Ba Vì. These are mountainous areas with forests and suitable climatic conditions for the development of medicinal plant species.

Therefore, Hà Nội aims to develop specialised cultivation areas for medicinal plants and establish production, preservation and processing chains, gradually making medicinal plants a major crop, it said.

Phạm Thị Lý, director of the Union of Vietnamese Herbal Medicine and Organic Agriculture Cooperatives, stated that with the support of local authorities and residents, the union has introduced medicinal plants to be grown under natural forest canopies in Nam Sơn Commune in Sóc Sơn District.

“This new approach neither impacts the forest ecosystem nor affects sustainable livelihoods for local farmers. To date, we have mobilised several families to establish a medicinal plant conservation village in Tam Đảo Mountain Foot with over 50 hectares of forest and hilly land, where we have planted more than 10,000 golden camelia plants over nearly ten hectares,” she said.

The family of Đặng Văn Yên from Xuân Giang Commune in Sóc Sơn District currently has seven hectares dedicated to growing medicinal plants.

The Sóc Sơn Medicinal Plant Conservation and Development Cooperative has provided seeds, scientific and technical guidance and purchased all the products.

He could earn VNĐ420 million (US$16,716) per hectare per year, three times higher than other crops.

In addition to traditional medicinal plants, Sóc Sơn District has also introduced new medicinal plant varieties, such as burdock (Arctium lappa Linn) from Japan. Burdock roots are purchased for use in soy sauce and food products.

Nguyễn Văn Dũng from Xuân Thu Commune in Sóc Sơn District explained that after switching from growing vegetables in the alluvial areas along the Cà Lồ River to cultivating burdock, he found that this medicinal plant is well-suited to the riverbank soil and grows well.

Dũng said: “Currently, burdock roots are purchased by the cooperative at VNĐ90,000 per kilogram. With an average yield of over 400 kilogrammes per sào, after production costs, my family earns about VNĐ20 million per sào. Compared to traditional rice cultivation, this value is several times higher.”

Tạ Văn Tường, deputy director of the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said to preserve and sustainably develop medicinal plant varieties, Hà Nội recently issued the plan for developing medicinal plants in Hà Nội for 2024-2025.

The plan prioritises the development of 16 types of medicinal plants, including golden camelia, honeysuckle, đinh lăng, cà gai leo, ginseng, holy basil, sweet grass, basil, peppermint, ginger and many others.

Additionally, based on local advantages and actual conditions, each area can choose and develop other plants that have economic value, market potential, and are suitable for local climatic and soil conditions, such as Australian cow plant, artichoke, vằng tea, male papaya flowers, fish mint and grass jelly.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng, head of Hà Nội’s Quality, Processing, and Market Development Department, said that since 2020, Hà Nội had piloted sustainable and stable medicinal plant cultivation models.

These models had initially proven effective, creating production and consumption linkages and contributing to increased incomes for local people.

Tường said Hà Nội needed to support the development of medicinal plant models linked to product consumption. This should include supporting the establishment of specialised cultivation areas to grow medicinal plants that meet GACP-WHO standards, with plans to reach 400 hectares by 2025 and 1,000 hectares by 2030 in regions with suitable soil and climatic conditions.

Currently, Hà Nội was directing a review to identify and develop detailed plans for specialised cultivation areas for each type of medicinal plant in various communes, and create systems for purchasing, preserving, processing and selling medicinal products.

This approach aimed to leverage geographic and natural advantages. Additionally, it included converting less productive land to medicinal plant cultivation with the goal of gradually making medicinal plants a major crop in Hà Nội, he said. – VNS