Coming to the highland area of Y Ty (Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province), tourists will be quite impressed by a famous agricultural specialty of the local people, Fansipan ginseng (also known as Hoang Sin Co ginseng).
This type of ginseng used to be a plant that easily grows in home gardens, in forests or in humid places and people often used its leaves to cook soup, boil vegetables to eat to cool down and detoxify the body. Later, Fansipan ginseng was also considered a rare medicinal herb to use in treating diseases, improving health, and nourishing the body. Therefore, Fansipan ginseng is now commonly grown by people to increase income.
According to the locals, on the outside, Fansipan ginseng looks quite similar to sweet potatoes. However, when cut open, they have a clear white or light yellow core, and a fragrant smell similar to ginseng. Fansipan ginseng season lasts for 1 month, starting from the beginning of November, but this root can be stored for a very long time. Just keep it in a dry, airy place and it can be preserved for up to half a year. The longer it is kept, the sweeter the root is when it is soaked in water. If you eat Fansipan ginseng raw, you will find it has a sweet, cool taste, lots of water, and is more delicious and crunchy than jicama.
Communes such as A Lu, Ngai Thau, Y Ty, Trinh Tuong of Bat Xat district are the communes that grow the most ginseng. Partly because of the terrain and soil quality, these communes are very suitable for growing ginseng and produce good quality and large quantity. Realizing the importance of this tuber, in recent years, people have grown this plant quite a lot to increase their family income.
Mr. Ly A Long (28 years old, residing in Phinh Chai 2 village, A Lu commune) said that his family has been growing ginseng for 7 or 8 years now. Photo: Huong Hien.
Mr. Ly A Long (28 years old, living in Phinh Chai 2 village, A Lu commune) said that his family has been growing ginseng for 7 or 8 years now. All the fields, fields, and land around his house are covered with ginseng. When the ginseng is still small, to increase food and income for the family, he intercrops corn. After 2 or 3 months of corn harvest, the family switches to harvesting ginseng.
In the past, people had to struggle to sell ginseng everywhere at a cheap price, but now it is easier to sell. After harvesting, ginseng is purchased by buyers. At peak times, ginseng is sold for about 10,000 - 12,000 VND/kg.
Thanks to ginseng cultivation, the life of Ly A Long's family and many other households here has changed. They no longer have to be away from their families, their wives and children have to go to other areas to work for hire, and their income has gradually stabilized and improved over the years.
The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lao Cai said that in the past, people here only grew ginseng to sell in small quantities, with unstable output. But now, the fact that purchasing agents come to the place to buy has partly helped people reduce the hardship of selling ginseng, thereby helping people improve their quality of life and gradually reduce poverty...
Ginseng is brought to the street for sale and is popular with many consumers. Photo: Huong Hien
In addition to being a root that helps local people reduce poverty, Fansipan ginseng has also become famous and attracted more visitors to the highlands of Y Ty. Therefore, from a remote, mountainous commune with rugged, dangerous roads, immersed in thick fog, Y Ty is now bustling, attracting more tourists. Visitors to Y Ty all feel like they are lost in another world, completely separate from the noisy, bustling, and chaotic life in the lowlands.
If a few years ago, after the crops were harvested, the Y Ty mountain area was left with only bare, rocky, gray mountainsides, with yellowed grass and trees because of the wind, cold, and fog blowing day and night. Now, coming to Y Ty, that desolate landscape seems to have been "changed" with a lush green color thanks to the Fansipan ginseng patches. They are planted everywhere, covering the rocky slopes, paths, fields, terraced fields, and around people's houses...
Fansipan ginseng is not only a plant that helps people here to escape poverty but also a special gift of the "rainy land" Y Ty for tourists when they come here to experience and admire. Then the news about this sweet, nutritious root like ginseng, cheap like sweet potato, spread further and further, attracting a large number of tourists to Y Ty more and more.
Huong Hien (Ethnic and Mountainous Areas Photo Newspaper)
Source: https://baophutho.vn/nguoi-dan-y-ty-doi-doi-nho-thu-cu-rung-bo-duong-gia-re-nhu-khoai-lang-221212.htm
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