Dream of a vast Gymnema sylvestre area

Plant variety of San Chi’s son

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The day the Gymnema sylvestre plant appeared, the San Chi village in Yen Ninh commune (Phu Luong district, Thai Nguyen province) was in tumult. Some households accepted planting, but many households refused. Until that plant species stuck to the mountains and hills and "brought money" to its growers after 6 months, the whole village massively expanded its area. Later, there was a time when that plant variety subsided with so many difficulties and hardships.

San Chi people in Yen Ninh talk a lot about Assoc.Prof.Dr.Tran Van On, lecturer in the Department of Botany, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, who is an excellent son of the fellow. Dr. Tran Van On was born and raised in Yen Ninh commune. In 2006, he returned to his hometown to carry out a scientific study on screening medicinal herbs to lower blood sugar and discovered the small-leaf Gymnema sylvestre plant. The nutrients of his hometown’s low hill land are compatible with the Gymnema sylvestre plant, giving the plant durable health and high pharmaceutical value. He thought, "This plant variety can help the San Chi people be prosperous."

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In 2010, after more than 1 year of successful experiments in his hometown’s mountains and hills, Dr. On's Gymnema sylvestre plant, with very effective support in treating diabetes, quickly spread and became a raw material area of up to 5 ha wide. This plant variety brought a high economic efficiency of up to VND 200 million/ha, making Yen Ninh people happy. In 2011, Dr. On and 20 supporters established the DK Natural Products Joint Stock Company.

Although it has many outstanding advantages, the small-leaf Gymnema sylvestre plant has the disadvantage of having toxicity. Dr. On was determined to go to the forest to search and gather genera and species of Gymnema sylvestre in each region and plant them in many different locations, then take the leaves to study and select individually planted individuals for propagation. After 10 years, in 2019, the big-leaf Gymnema sylvestre plant was born and appeared widely on the market, overcoming the shortcomings of small-leaf plants.

The uses and reputation of the Gymnema sylvestre tree plant to help treat diabetes and stabilize blood sugar effectively flied all the way to Hanoi capital. In 2012, a large pharmaceutical company cooperated with DK Natural Products Joint Stock Company to purchase the glue product extracted from big-leaf Gymnema sylvestre plants. During peak periods, orders are worth up to VND 2 billion/year.

But then, busy with work in Hanoi, Dr. On did not manage all the company's affairs. Without close management and supervision, farmers have gone astray. Only a few households have established a methodical raw material area that meets organic standards and can be sold, so the Gymnema sylvestre plant was struggling.

"Customers brought me back with the Gymnema sylvestre plant"

For over a month, every morning, young man Hoang Khac Can, Director of DK Natural Products Joint Stock Company, has woken up early to check the automatic irrigation system under construction in the Gymnema sylvestre terraced fields. With regular moisturizing water, the Gymnema sylvestre hill grows by leaps and bounds. Instead of harvesting two crops a year like before, it is now possible to harvest four crops.

Hoang Khac Can shared that this plant species helped his company earn billions of dong, but there were times when he did not have a few hundred thousand dong to pay his workers. At that time, the whole company was left with him and Gymnema sylvestre plants, whose leaves had been eaten barely by worms.

After graduating from the Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hoang Van Can’s mother took him to meet Dr. Tran Van On, who was introduced as his cousin. Dr. On told Can, “If you wish to love medicinal herbs, come along for both an apprenticeship, experience accumulation, and earning money to cover your life.” From there, Can traveled to medicinal herb areas everywhere from the South to the North. The entrepreneurial blood and passion for medicinal herbs also seeped into him.

In 2018, after accumulating enough experience, Can was hired by his cousin On to become a foreman and then director of DK Natural Products Joint Stock Company. In the following years, in addition to selling through direct distribution channels, he also sold online on social networking platforms. There were a lot of orders, earning VND 300 million in goods in some days. He thought he was about to get rich!

However, when business boomed, with a small amount of staff, the company did not have the conditions to take care of customers well. Meanwhile, the quality of goods for supply could not be controlled, so the company gradually lost its customers; business declined; and groups of workers gradually left the company.

In 2022, there was no rain for many days, but suddenly a storm came with extremely heavy rain. After that rain, the sunshine prolonged. One morning, Can visited the Gymnema sylvestre garden and was frightened when he saw that his garden was still green the day before, but the next day it was suddenly bare of leaves, and the young tops were also broken and fibrous.

Gymnema sylvestre trellises were crowed with green beetles. Villagers say that strange pests often appear in years of changing weather. Can urgently invited experts from the University of Agriculture in Hanoi to advise and eliminate strange pests. But by the time the expert arrived, the garden had been attacked by strange pests, causing damage up to 70%, plus having to spray chemicals, so the entire area could not be used.

That year, the company lost revenue while still having to pay workers. The company's capital is exhausted. Can was so difficult that he could not even borrow VND 10 million. He fell into a deadlock.

Sharing about what helped him overcome difficulties, Can said: "It was a phone call from a customer who had been attached to the company's products for nearly 10 years, wondering why such a good product was not for sale.

"I was awakened because cousin On and my hometown’s village land and mountains gave me a fate with the Gymnema sylvestre plant, so I could not give up. That failure is nothing to be afraid of; money can be lost, but it's clear that I learned a lot, from accumulating knowledge for myself, defining clear goals, and knowing what core values are worth cherishing. It was that customer who brought me back to the Gymnema sylvestre plant, and I could stand up."

Yen Ninh's midday weather is calm, and the sunlight penetrates through the leaves, making Gymnema sylvestre terraced fields more green and shiny. Not far away, in the drying factory using solar energy, the scent of Gymnema sylvestre medicine is fragrant. Can happily said: "I have just received a text message notifying me of a new order for the company’s two 4-star OCOP products: Gymnema sylvestre tea and Gymnema sylvestre compressed tea."

Gymnema sylvestre planted in Yen Ninh will begin to be harvested after 6 months. This plant species can save roots for up to 10 years, and the more leaves and branches are cut, the healthier and more developed it becomes.

Currently, the Gymnema sylvestre raw material area of DK Natural Products Joint Stock Company is 4 hectares, of which 2.1 hectares meet organic standards; the remaining area is being cultivated according to an organic direction.The company's output of dry Gymnema sylvestre sold on the market reaches nearly 4 tons/year. The company's sale of Gymnema sylvestre glue has also gradually been restored, with a revenue of about VND 250 million/year. The company hopes to expand the raw material area to hundreds of hectares, meeting organic standards.