Two ‘ginseng women’ from the Southwest alum land

Following Ms. Ngoc Bich from the DT839 commune in the Duc Hue district of Long An province over a long gravel pathway that passed through several villages, canals, and padding fields, we eventually arrived at the Bo Chinh ginseng field, which was entering the harvest time. "This is the site of our ginseng gardens," Ngoc Bich explained.

Compassionate for parents' tough time

Two women in their 30s, Phan Thi Ngoc Bich and Nguyen Phuong Hoang Cuong, own a 5-hectare ginseng farm grown according to the Bo Chinh ginseng model in Hoa Tay town, Binh Hoa Bac commune, Duc Hue district, Long An province. After five years of attaching to Bo Chinh ginseng plants, the model has remained steady and earned hundreds of times more cash than that of rice padding farming.

Ms. Ngoc Bich said that they were born into farming families in the Duc Hue area, where rice is the dominant crop. However, owing to the alum soil, rice production was low and cultivation was more difficult than on alum-free soil. She is well aware that if land area is limited, rice farmers who are able to work days and nights may only afford to meet their families' daily living expenses.

"Because my father's condition worsened owing to his advanced age, and his backache was previously treated with medication. This is also what motivates me to begin the planting of alternative herbal plants that will benefit my parents' health, convert crops, and raise the value of fields.",  Bich said.

She proposed the idea to her best friend Hoang Cuong, who enthusiastically backed her. After extensive research and examination of on-site herbal plant models, they discovered a ginseng variety with a particularly beneficial effect on the musculoskeletal system and sedative properties, namely "Bo Chinh Ginseng" also known as "King Ginseng," and chose this variety as the plant upon which to build a start-up.

"Bo Chinh ginseng is a rare Vietnamese ginseng that was discovered around 300 years ago in Bo Chinh" (now Bo Trach commune, Quang Trach district, Quang Binh province). As a result, it is referred to as Bo Chinh ginseng. According to several papers, Bo Chinh ginseng has a variety of medicinal compounds that aid in bodily nourishment and the treatment of respiratory disorders. Historically, Bo Chinh ginseng was a prized offering to the king," according to Ngoc Bich.

Ms. Bich recalled the difficult period when she first began cultivating ginseng: "Because I was born and raised in this region, I know how the alum soil, the dry or flooded land, is ideal for which type of plants. However, because we were unfamiliar with producing ginseng, we had to spend much time researching the plant," Bich explained.

She failed for the first time due to inaccurate soil plowing; the ginseng plant was substandard and eventually perished. They were successful, however, after a lengthy period of effort and persistence in studying and planting. In 2019, the model developed by the two ladies achieved a yield of 6 tons per hectare. "When grown properly, ginseng has a maximum yearly yield of roughly 10 tons per hectare," Ngoc Bich explained.

Ginseng of high quality at an affordable price

While doing research and developing their initial ginseng products, the two fortunate women met a foreign investor interested in Bo Chinh ginseng products and offered to assist with the technical process, seed processing, and product output.

According to Ngoc Bich: "When the products are applied with engineer's procedure and instructions, the cost is rather costly, up to more than VND 1 billion VND/ha, but the yield and quality satisfy the partner's criteria. Although not certified to VietGAP or GlobalGAP standards, the procedure is organic, requiring no spraying or further fertilizing during the plant's first year of development. As a result, the purity of fresh ginseng products, ginseng leaves, and blossoms is entirely ensured."

In 2019, the duo founded Hoang Ngoc Global Company, a ginseng-focused enterprise. The firm operates processing plants, warehouses for storage and preliminary processing, and markets 30 products.  In which, special fresh ginseng roots cost approximately VND 1 million per kilogram or nearly VND 1.5 million for a 5-liter bottle of fresh Bo Chinh ginseng soaked wine. Other ginseng components, including blossoms, stems, and leaves, are dried and processed to make tea.

At the moment, the majority of our work is consumed by partners. Only a select number of us give service in Saigon and Hanoi. The firm now has an agreement in place with a partner to expand the area to 30 hectares. We also surveyed and linked to households in Long An districts during the first phase of 2021, but it was halted by Covid-19 and is likely to be completed shortly," Bich added.

In terms of ginseng quality, Bich confirmed that the company takes samples prior to each harvest for quality control. The results indicate that the saponin concentration of Bo Chinh ginseng root is quite high and that it contains 17 different amino acids.

Although she has only been working with ginseng for over four years and has no background in plants, this 35-year-old lady may now be said to as an "expert" on ginseng: "I'd want to share this information with farmers that are interested in growing crops quickly. Bo Chinh ginseng has a significant economic value, and the market for items derived from it is still relatively untapped.

However, this is a very picky plant that is not adaptive to all soil types. Although it can be cultivated in all three of the northern, central, and southern regions, it will only thrive in a certain field. Ginseng is intolerant of high humidity in the soil, heavy rain is disease-prone, and once the plant becomes ill, it is extremely difficult to treat.

Bo Chinh ginseng from Vietnam is of the same quality as ginseng from anywhere else in the world, and we hope that one day, Bo Chinh ginseng products will be available in a number of nations worldwide. There will be further ginseng farming models in Vietnam, both to assist improve the local economy and to contribute to farmers' health care, as this is one of the most economical ginseng types," Phan Thi Ngoc Bich, Director of Hoang Ngoc Global Ginseng Company, stated.