Bringing Cu Nam herbal products to the international market

Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, Director of the agribusiness Cooperative producing clean medicinal plants and agribusiness in Cu Nam commune (or Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative for short) located in Cu Nam commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh said: "So far, our cooperative has produced and marketed 8 different types of products. These products are all focused on improving human health and they are popular with many customers. Our cooperative has also managed to bring products to different international markets."

Ms. Giang and her husband have planted and developed an area of medicinal Solanum procumbens Lour (Ca gai leo in Vietnamese) since 2015. Ms. Giang said that this type of medicinal plant has a short period of capital turnover as well as suffers from few pests and diseases. This medicinal plant also limits the impact of natural disasters, so the economic efficiency is higher than that of other crops.

For sustainable and effective production, farmers of the cooperative always prioritize product quality to ensure the brand and reputation of the product. The entire area of the Ca gai leo plant strictly follows the process of planting and handling clean raw materials, using only biological products such as: peanut oil cake (peanuts with their oil fully extracted); as well as using compost to fertilize crops.

In addition, the farmers completely avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and plant protection drugs, so that the Ca gai leo plants are thoroughly clean. “Ca gai leo is planted and nurtured for 6 months before the plants are harvested in order to obtain the most medicinal properties and highest quality. Because this is a medicinal plant, we pay great attention to safe production”, said Ms. Giang.

Within the first 3 years, the farmers only grew and sold dried raw materials at a price of 70,000-100,000 VND/kg. After deducting production costs, the family earns over 100 million VND in profit every year. Ms. Giang recalls: “At the time, even though it was only a small amount of money, thanks to the development of medicinal plants, the family's livelihood has improved. It is important to nurture the hope of developing medicinal plants in hilly areas so that local families and people can earn high and stable incomes".

Near the end of 2018, Ms. Giang discussed with her husband, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, to establish the Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative for the synthesis of medicinal plants with 8 members. 7 of whom are households in the commune. They mainly grew and provided raw materials for the Ca gai leo plant (with a total area of approximately 6 hectares growing an overlapping crop) to produce final Ca gai leo products. Mr. Binh said: "I personally monitor all the seedlings as well as the process of planting and nurturing of Ca gai leo to ensure the highest quality of clean raw materials as required".

To gradually improve the quality of the final products, Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative has ordered a medicinal production line following the production process of the pharmaceutical industry. Subsequently, the cooperative invested in modern packaging lines and inspection of product quality, as well as registered to announce the quality of high-quality medicinal products.

Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative has recently started a new crop of Ca gai leo. Ms. Giang has also personally visited the farms to inspect the quality of medicinal plants before harvesting. Ms. Giang said that the Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative currently cultivates various products including: Ca gai leo, Thia canh, honey essence and so on. “After 4 years of construction and development, Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative has expanded in term of area, linked with different households cultivating medicinal plants in the commune as well as neighboring communes with a total area of nearly 15 hectares. The main plants grown on this area are Ca gai leo, Thia canh, Vang tea, Green chiretta among others", shared Ms. Giang.

According to Ms. Giang, Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative supplies 10-13 tons of diverse products to the market every year. These products mainly support diabetes treatment, liver detoxificaton, body purification, health promotion, vitality enhancement, etc. As a result, the Cooperative has created employment for 35 regular and seasonal workers with a monthly income of 5 million VND/worker. “Our annual revenue is approximately 5 billion dong and our profit is around 500 million dong”, Ms. Giang confided.

Ca gai leo products made by Cu Nam Medicinal Cooperative is an OCOP product favored by the market, and highly praised by consumers for its quality and design. Every 3 days, the cooperative can produce a 5kg batch of Ca gai leo, and produce 50 boxes of final products (with each box weighing 100g). "All products made by the cooperative are labeled with a QR-code to serve the tracing of the product's origin thereby building trust and credibility in the consumers", added Ms. Giang.

By the end of last year, Ms. Giang has coordinated with Oxalis Co., and various hotels including Son Doong Bungalow, Phuong Nam in Phong Nha among others to introduce medicinal products. These products are well received and recommended by domestic and foreign tourists alike.