(VOVworld) – Located at a height of 1,500 to 1,800 meters and in a temperate climate zone with temperatures from 15 to 18 degrees Celsius, Sa Pa in Lao Cai province has advantages for growing medicinal plants. In recent years many households have cultivated precious herbs for domestic pharmaceutical production. The plants have helped farmers in Sa Pa get richer and improve their living conditions.

The project to grow medicinal plants has improved the living conditions for many households in Sa Pa town. (Photo: quyhotronongdan.vn)

The artichoke is one of the medicinal plants to have reaped high economic benefits for the locals of Sa Pa. Ma A Sinh’s is one of the households in Sa Pa commune to have the largest area of the plant whose leaves, trunks, roots, and flowers are a remarkable source of earnings.

Sinh said his family have been taught the cultivation techniques and a company has promised to buy their products, adding that his family “grows 3 hectares of artichokes, which generates an income of 13,500 USD per year.”

The artichoke is the kind of plant which brings a relatively high income, helping many households in Sa Pa to escape poverty.

Ashweed trees grown in Sa Pa (Photo: laocai.gov.vn)

Sa Pa now has more than 70 hectares of land for artichoke cultivation, which has harvested nearly 4,000 tons of fresh leaves and generated 360,000 USD in revenue.

Traphaco, a pharmaceutical producer, wholesaler, and manufacturer, has pledged to buy all material products and has invested in advanced assembly lines.

Do Tien Sy, the director of Traphaco in Sa Pa, said “in recent years the company has proactively linked enterprises, farmers, scientists, and state agencies to create a master-plan for cultivating medicinal plants so that each type is grown in a specific zone to increase productivity and quality.”

Since last year Sa Pa has implemented a project to plant 5 hectares of ashweed and bulbous aralia.

According to Tran Thi Lan Huong, deputy head of the economic division of Sa Pa district, “from last year until 2020, the district authorities have emphasized the importance of expanding the medicinal plant area to 200 hectares and calling on local people to farm in accordance with the master-plan to ensure all products are of a quality to be consumed.”

In recent years, artichokes have replaced rice planting because the results are higher economic benefits and because they are suitable to the local climate and terrain in Sa Pa.