VietNamNet Bridge – In traditional markets in Nam Tra My District, prized and valuable Ngoc Linh ginseng abounds. What eager customers don’t know is that the herb they buy might not be the real thing.

A Ngoc Linh ginseng root is harvested from a mountainous farm in Nam Tra My district in Quang Nam Province. A testing centre in the district could protect the nationally recognised brand of the Ngoc Linh ginseng.

In early 2017, Ngoc Linh ginseng, grown both in Quang Nam Province and the central highland province of Kon Tum, was named a National Brand. 

But it’s easy to mix in herbs from other parts of the country without customers having any clue what they’re buying. 

To combat the fake Ngoc Linh (Panax vietnamensis, or Vietnamese ginseng), the central province has asked the Ministry of Science and Technology to build a quality test centre to protect the integrity of the locally grown herb.

Chairman of Nam Tra My District, Ho Quang Buu told Viet Nam News the centre will help customers distinguish between the special ginseng grown in the and products from other provinces.

Buu said most sales of the Ngoc Linh ginseng in the district occur without any certificates of quality and origin.

“It’s just based on trust among buyers and sellers,” Buu said. “We need a local quality test centre or authorised agency from the ministry of Science and Technology to recognise certificate of origin or quality of the Ngoc Linh ginseng roots.”

The country has a ginseng quality verification centre in HCM City, but not one close to the forests in Nam Tra My District and  Tu Mo Rong District in Kon Tum Province, where Ngoc Linh are often grown 1,400m above sea level.

According to local traders, fake Ngoc Linh ginseng has been sold at some markets in the neighbouring province of Kon Tum.

Director of Quang Nam Provincial Science and Technology Department, Pham Viet Tich said some businesses and traders intentionally design the ginseng trademark on package to forge buyers.

Ginseng was first found in the late 1960s on Ngọc Linh Mountain in the middle of Quang Nam and Kon Tum provinces. 

Since then, the product has become a prized product of the area, and its survival is threatened because it grows slowly and is in high demand.

In 2015, Nam Tra My District and Hamyang County in South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on tourism, agriculture, conservation and the development of Ngoc Linh ginseng.

In 2016, seven investors agreed to invest $221 million to farm ginseng and process plants for essential oils, cosmetics, tonic drinks and capsules from ginseng in the district.

Nam Tra My District will host the first Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis or Vietnamese ginseng) market from September 29th to October 1st to offer tested ginseng product and herbs grown at local farm.

The district also introduced the first-ever Ngoc Linh ginseng and medical herbs Centre in Tra Mai Commune as a major source of ginseng seeds and saplings in Viet Nam.

More than 200kg ginseng roots were sold at the first Ngoc Linh Ginseng Festival the district in June, earning VND12.5 billion (US$553,000). 

VNS