Ginseng gardens flourish in Mong village at altitude of over 2,000m

The village head takes the lead

In recent years, the construction of concrete roads and the extension of the national power grid to the village have transformed Nam Nghep (Ngoc Chien commune, Son La province). The village is home to 151 Mong households with a population of 754, of which only 10 households are classified as poor or near-poor. The community has been entrusted with managing and protecting approximately 11,200 ha of forest, including more than 1,000 ha of wild apple forests. Thanks to the high forest cover and the year-round cool climate, local residents have recently begun developing high-value medicinal plants such as black cardamom and ginseng.

The ginseng garden owned by Khang A Say, the Party Secretary and Village Head, covers nearly 1 ha. The ginseng is planted in neat rows under towering wild apple trees, with black shade netting overhead and a layer of transparent plastic sheeting underneath. Ginseng seedlings are planted directly into humus-rich soil mixed with lime, while commercial ginseng plants are grown in plastic trays filled with the same lime-amended growing medium. A layer of wood shavings is spread over all the plants to retain moisture and improve soil looseness.

As her husband is frequently occupied with village and commune affairs, tending the ginseng garden largely depends on Giang Thi Dua. Every day, she removes weeds by hand. Each week, she boils garlic and lemongrass, dilutes the extract with water, and sprays it on the ginseng to prevent pests and diseases. This precious medicinal plant has weak resistance, with its leaves often attacked by insects and its roots highly susceptible to fungal rot.

According to Khang A Say, he was the first person to introduce Lai Chau ginseng to the village in 2020. "In the past, the road from Nam Nghep to Ngoc Chien commune was extremely difficult. Many villagers were illiterate and could not speak Vietnamese, so life was very hard. I was the only person in the village to attend an intermediate forestry school, which gave me the opportunity to study various crop models. However, most of them could not develop in Nam Nghep because the climate is too cold. Only black cardamom, wild apples, and ginseng can grow well here. That's why I traveled to Lai Chau to learn how local people cultivated ginseng. The climate there is very similar to that of Nam Nghep, so I believed that our village could grow ginseng successfully," Say recalled.

After earning VND 60 million from that year's black cardamom harvest, he traveled to Lai Chau to purchase 500 ginseng seedlings, which he planted in his family's wild apple orchard without any protective covering. Despite his dedicated care, around 70% of the plants died. Although both areas enjoy cool climates, Nam Nghep's climate is relatively dry, unlike the cool, humid conditions of Lai Chau's ginseng-growing region.

Not giving up, he used the proceeds from the following year’s black cardamom harvest and borrowed additional money, raising a total of VND 120 million for another trip to Lai Chau. This time, instead of buying seedlings, he purchased seeds for propagation. To his surprise, the germination rate was remarkably high, yielding tens of thousands of seedlings. He kept some for planting in his own garden and sold the rest to villagers. Those who could not afford to pay upfront were allowed to settle the cost after harvesting their ginseng, with the proceeds shared 50-50.

The villagers follow

According to Say, four-year-old Lai Chau ginseng plants have already begun to flower and produce seeds. His family currently has about 2,500 such plants, which provide the propagation material for approximately 60,000 seedlings. After digging up a few roots for inspection, he found that they were still immature, weighing only 100-200 grams each. He therefore decided to leave them in the ground for more than 10 years before harvesting them to maximize their value.

Say affirmed, "The ginseng-growing model in Nam Nghep has shown great promise. I have been piloting it for six years, and my family's ginseng garden is now worth around VND 3 billion, generating an annual income of VND 200-300 million."

Initially, Say sold one- to two-year-old seedlings for VND 80,000 each. However, because the young plants were still fragile and villagers had not yet mastered the cultivation techniques, mortality rates remained high. He therefore decided to keep the seedlings in his own nursery until they were about three years old and stronger and more resilient before selling them at VND 150,000/plant. Mature plants that had already flowered and produced seeds were sold at an average price of VND 800,000-VND 1 million/plant.

The village currently has three households and the Nam Nghep Cooperative cultivating ginseng on a combined area of around 5 ha. Local residents use a relatively simple cultivation method, growing ginseng under the canopy of wild apple trees in their orchards and protecting the plants with two layers of covering: black shade netting on top and transparent plastic sheeting underneath. Based on Say's experience, if the plants are exposed to rainwater for about a week during the rainy season, they are unlikely to survive. Meanwhile, the Nam Nghep Cooperative grows ginseng both under the natural forest canopy and in the wild apple orchards. According to Nguyen Cao Cuong, Chairman of the Cooperative, the unit has 14 members and linkages with more than 100 farmer households.

The Cooperative began trial cultivation of Ngoc Linh ginseng, Lai Chau ginseng, and indigenous Codonopsis in early 2025, planting more than 10,000 seedlings. In the forest, members prepare the soil by spreading a layer of humus over growing beds, applying lime powder, and thoroughly mixing it before planting. In orchard plots, they use a growing medium made from soil, humus, and lime, which is filled into planting bags before the seedlings are planted. The Cooperative has already developed several ginseng-based products, including ginseng leaf tea, Angelica sinensis served with hotpot, and chicken stewed with Codonopsis.

In addition to cultivating ginseng under forest canopies and in household orchards, the Cooperative has completed the construction of a net house for seedling propagation and has been granted a planting area code, making it one of the first units in Son La Province to receive such certification. In the long term, the Cooperative plans to work with the Mong community in Nam Nghep to develop sustainable tourism associated with nature-based experiences and the exploration of precious medicinal herbs.

Lai Chau ginseng (Panax vietnamensis) is an endemic Vietnamese ginseng species found primarily in the former districts of Sin Ho, Muong Te, and Phong Tho in Lai Chau Province. It naturally grows beneath the canopy of humid primary forests at an altitude of 1,500 meters or higher. Lai Chau ginseng closely resembles Ngoc Linh ginseng in morphology, featuring alternating stem and rhizome nodes, rounded leaves covered with fine hairs on both surfaces, and seeds marked with a distinctive black spot.

$1 = VND 26,460 - Source: Vietcombank.