With a total funding of over VND1 billion ($43,000 ), the project, to last until 2020, aims to expand Ngoc Linh ginseng production models in order to meet the increasing demands for ginseng and attract more tourists to the reserve.
Covering more than 20,000 hectares in Khanh Vinh, Khanh Son, Cam Lam and Dien Khanh districts, the Hon Ba Nature Reserve has a diverse flora system with over 590 species.
The Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis, or Vietnamese ginseng) was found on Ngoc Linh Mountain on the border between the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum and the central province of Quang Nam in the late 1960s.
By 1979, Quang Nam province had established the Tra Linh drug materials farm on the mountain, but it suffered from low productivity. Kon Tum province had also built up a conservation centre for the Ngoc Linh ginseng in 2004.
Currently, raw ginseng is sold for VND40 million ($1,900) per kilo, but the two provinces can only produce pharmaceutical materials and energy drinks due to poor investment in processing technology.
The Vietnamese ginseng was one of eight precious and endangered flora genes covered in Quang Nam province’s conservation programme for 2014-2020, including Ba Kich (poor ginseng or codonopsis), pepper, cinnamon, large rattan and white corn.-
