Ngoc Linh ginseng is not only a poverty-reducing plant in Nam Tra My

(Dan sinh) - 20 years ago, when Nam Tra My district was newly established after being separated from Tra My district, Ngoc Linh ginseng was still a completely unfamiliar name to consumers. At that time, each kilogram of ginseng named after Ngoc Linh mountain range was worth hundreds of millions of dong. As the value of this ginseng increased, the poverty rate in Nam Tra My also decreased.

Ngoc Linh ginseng is the 20th type of ginseng found in the world . And the origin of the discovery of this precious ginseng is not in Nam Tra My but in Ngoc Linh mountain, Dak To district, Kon Tum province by pharmacist Dao Kim Long in 1973. In addition, this type of ginseng also grows a lot in Ngoc Linh mountain at an altitude of 1500m in Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province.

If in 2003, when Nam Tra My district was first established, the poverty rate of the whole district was over 85% with 98% of the population being K'Dong people, now the poverty rate has decreased to 44.96%. Explaining why the poverty rate is still above 44%, Vice Chairman of Nam Tra My District People's Committee, Tran Van Man said: "There was a time when the poverty rate in the district dropped below 24%, but when applying the multidimensional poverty standard, the poverty rate increased."

Mr. Tran Van Man - Vice Chairman of Nam Tra My District People's Committee

The reason why the poverty rate in Nam Tra My is still high is because of limited production thinking, inadequate production tools and people have not yet learned new things in farming, raising and livelihood.

“With 98% of the K'Dong people, applying and transmitting knowledge, models, crops and livestock to the people is very difficult. In addition to the ideology in production and cultivation, another barrier is the high birth rate, which has caused the labor resources of families to decrease significantly. When supporting people's livelihoods, we also have to carefully consider what breeds and plants to support them and whether the effectiveness is long-term. We do not dare to support livestock breeds anymore, because when any animal grows up, it is slaughtered or "sold as young rice" and poverty therefore clings to them forever", added Vice Chairman Tran Van Man.

Returning to Ngoc Linh ginseng, which is currently considered the main economic spearhead of Nam Tra My and whether it can bring outstanding values to change the economic status of the district or not, Vice Chairman Tran Van Man analyzed: “Ngoc Linh ginseng has very special characteristics that make its value increase day by day, but it cannot be a “golden egg-laying tree” when the natural ginseng source is now exhausted and must be preserved to maintain the upstream gene source. Growing Ngoc Linh ginseng for commercial tubers also takes at least 6-7 years, not “one morning, one afternoon” to harvest immediately. Therefore, not everyone and any locality in Nam Tra My district can grow ginseng to get rich even though its price is still increasing every day”, said Mr. Tran Van Man.

Road to Ngoc Linh ginseng conservation area in Tra Linh commune - Nam Tra My

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue, a local, a ginseng farmer, and a Front official in Nam Tra My district, shared with us the following approach to Ngoc Linh ginseng. The land does not need to be large (depending on the scale of investment), 1 hectare or more is enough to grow Ngoc Linh ginseng, but that land must be at least 1200-1500m above sea level. The next issue is investing in Ngoc Linh ginseng seeds. 1-year-old seedlings currently cost 300,000 VND, 2-year-old seedlings cost 500,000 VND, 3-year-old seedlings cost 800,000 VND. Thus, investing in 1,000 seedlings or more will immediately generate the first amount of money that must be spent. For example, for 1,000 1-year-old plants, at least 300 million VND must be spent by the people or investors, along with labor costs for care, and they must wait for 6 years before harvesting.

“The survival rate depends on the age of the ginseng plant. Sometimes the survival rate is only a few dozen percent, not all of them will survive after planting. Therefore, if you want the plant to survive well in the environment, people usually buy seedlings from 3 years old, so the investment value also increases a lot,” said Ms. Hue.

Billionaire village in Nam Tra My district — "Billionaire" village in Nam Tra My district

On the way to visit the Ngoc Linh ginseng seed source conservation area in the 30-hectare primeval forest area in Tra Linh commune, Mr. Trinh Minh Quy - Director of Nam Tra My Technical Center pointed to the distance, where there were spacious 2-storey houses with red tiles and said; "billionaire village" of Nam Tra My district. According to Mr. Qui, in 2008, when the value of Ngoc Linh ginseng began to rise, people in this village quickly went into the forest to "hunt" for ginseng and stockpile it. By 2015-2018, when the natural ginseng in Nam Tra My was worth several hundred million VND, the "billionaire village" was also formed from there.

Mr. Trinh Minh Qui (the leader) - Director of Nam Tra My Technical Center leads the way to Ngoc Linh ginseng conservation area

Dr. Ho Thanh Tam, who spent 6 years studying ginseng in Korea, also admitted that the path to propagating Ngoc Linh ginseng is very difficult. From the time the scar tissue is cultured in the laboratory until the plant has enough stems and leaves, it takes a whole year, then taking it to the nursery, training it until the plant is mature enough to be planted in the natural forest, sometimes it takes a couple of years with the survival rate still not high.

Dr. Ho Thanh Tam with Ngoc Linh wild ginseng.

“Because all parts of Ngoc Linh ginseng can be used and have high value, the need for cultivation is necessary. Local authorities and some scientists have researched and cultivated it for many years, but the results are still a big question ahead,” Dr. Ho Thanh Tam confided.

Currently, at the beginning of each month, Nam Tra My district organizes Ngoc Linh ginseng fairs to promote and create a trading floor for tourists and locals to have the opportunity to exchange and learn, thereby promoting other activities to bring the Ngoc Linh ginseng brand closer to consumers.

“We always realize that, in addition to Ngoc Linh ginseng, Nam Tra My is still a locality with rich tourism potential. The remaining problem is to find reputable investors and effectively exploit that potential. If we only rely on Ngoc Linh ginseng, it is not enough, because each monthly market session only sells a few dozen kilograms of ginseng to the market, which is not worthy of the available potential. In addition, the district also pays great attention to ginseng security when currently there are “fake ginseng” Ngoc Linh appearing. This not only affects the brand and reputation but also leads to chaos in the ginseng market in the future,” Mr. Tran Van Man added.

Commercial Ngoc Linh ginseng is ready to be released to the market.

Thousands of households in Nam Tra My have escaped poverty thanks to Ngoc Linh ginseng, this is a very encouraging sign, but for Ngoc Linh ginseng to become an economic spearhead, a national ginseng treasure and a prestigious "visiting Ngoc Linh ginseng garden" tourist destination in western Quang Nam, there is still a lot of work to be done.

“If you only come to Nam Tra My to buy ginseng, then all the tourists and consumers will leave within a day. Nam Tra My needs to have many unique tourism products, many goods from medicinal herbs available in Nam Tra My, mixed products originating from ginseng here with reasonable prices, to be able to attract tourists”, Master Tran Duy An - lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture, who is cooperating with Nam Tra My district, shared with me.

EAST SEA

Source link