Traditional Chinese herbs boost the development of Tian'e county

The demonstration base in Tian'e county's Xiangyang town, Hechi city has recently been seeing strong results with their mandarin oranges, with farmers currently hard at work caring for the plants, according to local media on May 9.

The demonstration base has lifted more than 40 households out of poverty through its efforts in growing mandarin oranges.

Tian'e county boasts a unique environment and a rich variety of wild medical herbs, which have been grown by local residents for decades.

In recent years, Tian'e county has begun to take full advantage of its resources in developing its traditional medicinal herb industry, namely mandarin oranges, Momordica grosvenori (known to possess anti-inflammatory anti-oxidative, and anti-diabetic activities), and gastrodia elata (commonly used in China to treat hypertension, improve circulation and resolve headaches).

The county has incorporated the development of its traditional medicinal herb industry into its poverty-alleviation program. The development of this industry has increased the income of farmers and improved their standard of living.

Farmers care for the medicinal plants. [Photo/gxny.gov.cn]

Tian'e county builds demonstration bases and promotes standardized production. There is currently one county-level demonstration base for traditional medicinal herbs, with an area of 100 mu (6.67 hectares), and nine village-level demonstration bases for traditional medicinal herbs, with an area of 50 mu (3.33 hectares), both of which play a leading role in strengthening the development of related industries.

Local farmers have been encouraged to take advantage of the area's rich forest resources by growing traditional medicinal herbs in forest clearings.

Since January this year, 4,889 mu of traditional medicinal herbs have been planted.

As of now, there are 85,000 mu of traditional medicinal herbs in Tian'e county, benefiting 5,340 households, among which 1,564 households are low-income families.