Rural economic development from medicinal plant cultivation under forest canopy

With high mountainous terrain, cool climate and diverse ecosystem, in recent years, people in Lai Chau province have chosen to promote the advantages of growing medicinal herbs under the forest canopy to develop the economy and escape poverty sustainably.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Lai Chau province currently has over 9,300 hectares of medicinal plants grown under forest canopy, concentrated in communes with suitable climate and soil conditions such as the communes of Binh Lu, Khun Ha, Sin Suoi Ho, Si Lo Lau, Dao San, Hua Bum, Pa U.

People take advantage of natural conditions and diverse vegetation, many households have converted production from growing corn and upland rice to growing medicinal plants. Typically, in Si Lo Lau commune, people are currently strongly converting from growing corn and rice to growing medicinal plants such as Lai Chau ginseng and seven-leaf flower. Some households have expanded their area to tens of thousands of square meters, thereby increasing their income quite stably.

A typical example is the family of Ms. Phan Ta May in Sin Chai village (Si Lo Lau commune). 6 years ago, her family started growing medicinal plants (Lai Chau ginseng and seven-leaf flower) with an area of ​​400m2 and expanded to 2ha. Currently, the entire area of ​​medicinal plants is growing well, of which 400 million VND has been earned; in the garden there are over 2,000 Lai Chau ginseng and seven-leaf flower plants from 1 to 2 years old. It is expected that in 5 years, this area will yield over 1 billion VND.

Medicinal herb garden of ethnic minorities in Lai Chau

Many other households in Si Lo Lau commune have also had certain success from growing medicinal plants. That is the family of Mr. Tan Sai Song in La Nhi Thang village. In 2015, he experimented with growing Lai Chau ginseng on an area of ​​100 square meters. Realizing that the plant adapted well and had high economic value, Mr. Song decided to invest in expanding the scale of the garden. To date, the medicinal plant garden area is 5,000 square meters, with more than 10,000 medicinal plants of all kinds, including the seven-leafed one-flower plant.

Many businesses have invested in developing medicinal plant cultivation in Lai Chau.

However, most households cultivate spontaneously, without any connection in production, processing and consumption, so the potential of medicinal herbs has not been effectively exploited in this model.

To address the shortcomings in the local production and cultivation of medicinal plants, the province has now implemented technical guidance programs according to GACP standards (including good practices for growing medicinal plants and good practices for collecting wild medicinal plants) Vietnam, GACP - WHO (global standards for good practices for growing and collecting medicinal plants as recommended by the World Health Organization WHO); supporting concentrated cultivation of medicinal plants.

At the same time, Lai Chau province aims to form concentrated raw material areas, with the participation of enterprises in deep processing and product consumption, with specific mechanisms, implementing preferential policies for enterprises and promoting value chain linkages in production and consumption. That is the key to both providing stable livelihoods and preserving the green color of the forest, helping people to escape poverty sustainably.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/phat-trien-kinh-te-nong-thon-tu-trong-duoc-lieu-duoi-tan-rung-2025082411285007.htm