QUẢNG NAM — Nam Trà My District in Quảng Nam Province has introduced the first ever Ngọc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis or Vietnamese ginseng) and medical herbs Centre in Trà Mai Commune as a major source of seed and sapling in Việt Nam.

Hồ Quang Bửu, Chairman of the district’s people’s committee, told Việt Nam News that the centre, which was built in a 2.5ha valley with a total investment of VNĐ6.5 billion (US$287,000), plans to supply 50,000 saplings and seeds of Ngọc Linh ginseng and herbs for local farmers in seven villages in the district this year.

Bửu said the introduction of the centre is an initial step toward the district’s ginseng development project on 15,000ha in seven mountainous communes.

“We set up the centre to conserve the best seeds of Ngọc Linh ginseng and dozens of precious medicine herbs for a mass development of the national ginseng brand and an eco-tourism site, which he hope to have completed in the 2016-25 period,” Bửu said.

“We also plan to afforest the district with ginseng, herbs and cinnamon as part of developing the district as a major gene conservation and seedling centre of endangered seeds and herbs in Việt Nam,” he said.

He added seven businesses had started their feasibility studies on growing 1,000ha of Ngọc Linh Ginseng and processing plants in the district.

So far, there are 70ha of major ginseng farms in villages of Trà Nam and Trà Cang communes in the district.

According to the district, more than 42,000ha of primary forests have been well preserved in development of the ginseng and native herbs.

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

Vietnamese ginseng was one of eight precious and endangered flora genes including Ba Kích (poor man’s ginseng or codonopsis), pepper, cinnamon, large-size rattan and white corn in the province’s conservation programme in 2014-20.

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"  (Panax vietnamensis, or Vietnamese ginseng) for ginseng root products in Quảng Nam and Kon Tum provinces.

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