(HBO) – Hoa Binh province boasts relatively favourable natural conditions for growing medical herbs. Given this, a number of organisations and individuals have worked to develop large-scale medical herb farming zones, thus helping to provide jobs and raise income for locals.
A
worker of the Biopharm Hoa Binh JSC examines medical herbs.
The Hoa Binh Medicine JSC, based in Hoa Son
commune of Luong Son district, specialises in growing, researching and
producing medical herbs, especially "xa den” (Celastrus hindsii Benth) which is
useful for health improvement. It carried out a scientific study which looked
into the chemical composition of the special herb and assessed the biological
activity of some compounds from this plant. The firm submitted its findings to
the authorised agency to seek a patent and is currently investing in a
production line. Some "xa den” derivatives have also been produced on a trial
basis.
Meanwhile, the INCA Vietnam JSC has coordinated
with relevant agencies and localities to create a sacha inchi growing area for
many years and reaped encouraging outcomes. Suiting the local mountainous
climate and soil conditions, the plant has developed well here and generated
relatively high economic benefits.
The growing area produced 1 – 1.3 tonnes of dry
fruit per ha in the first year and more than 3 tonnes since the third year,
with annual profit reaching 150 – 200 million VND (6,400 – 8,500 USD) per ha on
average.
INCA Vietnam said it plans to form a
concentrated sacha inchi farming zone in Hoa Binh and build a factory here to
process materials.
Via effective scientific research activities,
the Biopharm Hoa Binh JSC has successfully developed a cordyceps production
process and multiplied some available medical plants like ginseng, "thong dat”
(Palhinhaea cernua), "hoang tinh do” (Polygonatum kingianum Coll. et Hemsl.)
and "thong do” (Taxus wallichiana).
Hoa Binh boasts potential and advantages for
developing medical plant growing zones and producing medicines. In its plan on
developing medical herb farming areas until 2025, the province will focus on the
24 plants that it has strength in and cultivate them on over 2,800ha of land to
harvest about 14,000 – 20,000 tonnes of materials each year.
To that end, provincial authorities have been
assisting localities to convert ineffective farmland areas into those for
growing herbs in the long term, thus helping to improve the economic value on
the same farming area, create more jobs and raise income for locals, and
protect producers and consumers’ health and the environment.
Under the province’s instructions, localities in
Hoa Binh are reviewing areas zoned for herb farming, proposing support
policies, and inviting investment to medical herb cultivation and processing.
They are also building hi-tech production models, form connectivity between
producing and processing companies, and encouraging farmers to change crop
structures to develop concentrated medical herb growing zones./.
Once a mountainous province facing many challenges, Hoa Binh has, after more than a decade of implementing the national target programme on new-style rural area development, emerged as a bright spot in Vietnam’s northern midland and mountainous region. In the first quarter of 2025, the province recorded positive results, paving the way for Hoa Binh to enter a phase of accelerated growth with a proactive and confident mindset.
Hoa Binh province is steadily advancing its agricultural sector through the adoption of high-tech solutions, seen as a sustainable path for long-term development.
The steering committee for key projects of Hoa Binh province convened on May 14 to assess the progress of major ongoing developments
A delegation of Hoa Binh province has attended the "Meet Korea 2025" event, recently held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province.
Hoa Binh province joined Vietnam’s national "One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme in 2019, not simply as a mountainous region following central policy, but with a clear vision to revive the cultural and agricultural values in its villages and crops.
From just 16 certified products in its inaugural year to 158 by early 2025, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme in Hoa Binh province has followed a steady and strategic path. But beyond the numbers, it has reawakened local heritage, turning oranges, bamboo shoots, brocade, and herbal remedies into branded, market-ready goods - and, more profoundly, transformed how local communities value and present their own cultural identity.
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