The person who "revived" precious medicinal plants

Having a stable job with a high salary in Hanoi, Mr. Pham Tien Duat suddenly "left the city for the forest". After many hardships and difficulties, Mr. Duat has now made an important contribution to the revival, preservation and development of the yellow camellia tree in Nho Quan land.

Mr. Pham Tien Duat, the person who contributed to "reviving" precious medicinal plants.

After graduating from the University of Agriculture, Mr. Pham Tien Duat (born in 1985) worked at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. While having a stable job, Mr. Duat suddenly quit his job to find a new direction for the future. The place he chose to start his business was a dry, rocky valley, deep in the limestone mountains in Gia Lam commune, Nho Quan district.

Recalling that time, Mr. Pham Tien Duat, Deputy Director of Vu Gia Medicinal Materials Company Limited said: "It was 2016, a friend from my hometown and I decided to choose Ninh Binh as a place to stop to satisfy our passion for agriculture and medicinal materials. At first, we planted ginseng with the hope of turning this place into a large-scale field. But when ginseng was grown in many places, the price was no longer high, we had to find new directions for ourselves."

By chance, Mr. Duat and his friend learned about the yellow camellia, a precious plant that is distributed in Cuc Phuong National Park. Learning more about this plant, they were even more surprised about this rare medicinal herb that nature has bestowed upon many places in Vietnam, including Ninh Binh.

"The yellow camellia is a rare plant with great medicinal value. Vietnam currently has about 50 types of yellow camellia, but according to scientific research documents, the yellow camellia distributed in the buffer zone of Cuc Phuong National Park has a high content of active ingredients. However, due to overexploitation, the ability to regenerate in nature of this tea variety is very low, and there is a risk of extinction if not preserved and developed," said Mr. Duat.

The person who revived precious medicinal plants — Mr. Pham Tien Duat shares his experience in taking care of camellia trees in the park.

Worried about the risk of the yellow camellia, a precious medicinal plant of Vietnam, being completely destroyed, Mr. Duat researched day and night and together with his colleagues implemented the project: Building a model to preserve and propagate Cuc Phuong yellow camellia by cuttings. The project was successful, the result of efforts, dedication and aspiration to contribute to the development of the homeland.

Currently, on an area of nearly 30 hectares, Mr. Duat and his colleagues have successfully collected and propagated 35 varieties of yellow camellia flowers from all over the country, with hundreds of thousands of large and small plants growing and developing well. Cuc Phuong yellow camellia flowers alone account for 60% of the garden's plants. Not only restoring and ensuring the source of seeds from the risk of extinction, the Company has exploited and developed valuable products from flowers and tea leaves with high active ingredient content, creating stable jobs for local people.

According to Mr. Duat, the plants are grown using organic nutrition, without the use of any chemicals or fertilizers. After harvesting, the flowers are dried using freeze-drying technology at minus 50 degrees Celsius to help preserve their shape, structure, color, and especially the active ingredients, vitamins, mineral ions, etc., which help improve health and increase resistance.

With tireless efforts and scientific, strict cultivation processes, the Company's growing area has been certified by the Ministry of Health as good practice according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization GACP-WHO. The factory has been certified HACCP by Quacert Center. Currently, the Company has 5 products achieving 4-star OCOP in Ninh Binh province, the golden flower tea product is recognized as a typical product at the national level.

Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, a worker at the Company in Gia Lam Commune, Nho Quan District, said: I have been here since the Company was established. In addition to working at the Company with an income of about 5.5 million VND/month, I also take the time to increase production at home. I find Mr. Duat to be a careful, meticulous, and hard-working person. In life, he is very sincere, simple, modest, and cares about the lives of his employees.

Currently, the Company creates stable jobs for 20 local workers with an income of 5-7 million VND/person/month. Not only performing well in production and business activities, Vu Gia Medicinal Materials Company Limited and Mr. Duat personally also actively contribute to the process of building new rural areas in the locality, enthusiastically supporting and participating in humanitarian and social security activities in Nho Quan district as well as Gia Lam commune.

With his efforts, Mr. Pham Tien Duat was honored by the Ministry of Health for his career in developing Vietnamese medicinal herbs. Mr. Duat is also one of the typical examples in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style.

Looking back on the past, the Deputy Director of Vu Gia Pharmaceutical Company Limited shared: The happiest thing for me up to now is that I have contributed to realizing the mission of preserving the yellow camellia of Cuc Phuong. To have the results like today is that I always try to study and practice following the example of President Ho Chi Minh. I learned from Uncle Ho precious virtues: simplicity, harmony, discipline, enthusiasm for work, and creativity. I have lived with passion and vow to work responsibly with that passion...

Minh Hai-Minh Duong