Located at an altitude of over 1,200 metres, Hong Thai commune has great potential for developing medicinal herbs. Currently, the locality is implementing a project to grow 15 hectares of medicinal herbs, such as platycodon grandiflorus, salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, atractylodes macrocephala and Danggui (also known as angelica sinensis).

Accordingly, Danggui is harvested after 15 months with an average yield of 3-3,5 tonnes of roots per hectare, generating a revenue of about VND80 million (US$3,398). Danggui cultivation does not require as much care as other plants, needing no plant protection additives, thus ensuring safety for both user and farmer.

Quan Trong Viet, a resident in Na Hang townlet, taking care of his Danggui (Angelica sinensis) garden.

At the moment, the local people in Hong Thai are focusing on improving the soil quality and securing seedlings for cultivation. This is a joint project between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Hanoi centre for technology transfer and medicinal plant development, to provide seedlings as well as their cultivation, tending and harvesting techniques and underwriting services in a closed chain.

The households participating in the project are supported with seedlings, fertilizers, plant protection drugs and technology transfers. After harvest time, the centre will purchase all product at a price of VND17,000 (US$0.72) per kilogram.

With the favourable climatic and soil conditions, developing medicinal plants will offer a new path for the local people to earn some extra income and improve their living standard. In the near future, Na Hang district will continue to expand the medicinal herb areas in its communes, while cooperating with enterprises to support loans, technology transfer and product underwriting for farmers.