{"id":31381,"date":"2018-04-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/legendary-herb-offers-forest-options\/"},"modified":"2018-04-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T12:00:00","slug":"legendary-herb-offers-forest-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/legendary-herb-offers-forest-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary herb offers forest options"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The fact it appears to grow exceptionally well in New Zealand under the canopy of pine tree forests only adds to the appeal this ancient herb offers as a marketer\u2019s dream and a forester\u2019s cashflow booster. Richard Rennie gained an insight to the herb\u2019s potential at the country\u2019s inaugural Ginseng Symposium.<\/p>\n

The harvested root of ginseng has long held medicinal and healing properties valued by the Chinese and Koreans who see it as a cure for ailments including memory, fatigue, menopause symptoms and diabetes to name a few. Globally, the ginseng market for both the raw root and processed product is valued at more than US$2 billion.<\/p>\n

For Glen Katu, chief executive of Pure-ora Mountain Ginseng of Te Kuiti, it might also prove to be an answer to iwi needs for employment in regions otherwise bereft of job opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katu heads the King Country iwi business established when parent corporation Maraeroa C worked with Crop and Food on a project trialling growing the herb under pine trees in 2006. The iwi\u2019s forest, covering 5555ha, provided plenty of space to trial ginseng.<\/p>\n

In establishing the ginseng plantings Katu was encouraged by the knowledge China is increasingly short of wild ginseng, with forested areas being cut back in the traditional growing area of the Chang Bai mountains in northeast China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith wild ginseng now quite rare, wild-simulated ginseng is the next best thing. Ninety five percent of ginseng is grown with fertiliser and chemicals and only 5% is wild-simulated. In China it takes 14 years to grow versus seven years in NZ thanks to fewer frosts and a longer growing window.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katu also noted the strong spiritual links Maori share with Chinese in terms of life force, described as qi by Chinese and mauri by Maori, along with a link to natural herbal medicine use in both cultures.<\/p>\n

He was reluctant to expand on earlier efforts by investors to grow more than 100ha of ginseng under shade cloths between Bay of Plenty and Waikato. However, he was considerably more upbeat about iwi efforts under the established, natural cover of central North Island pine trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think there is a very good correlation between ginseng and pines but just have not had the chance yet to study how it goes under other trees. It also appears very few other crops are suited to grow with ginseng.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first harvest of early trial crops took place in the autumn of 2014 and 2015 with yields aligning with predictions. Tests indicate high levels of the ginseng active, ginsenoside, in the harvested roots sent to a food company for further processing and packaging into the company\u2019s range of ginseng products.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They include ginseng honey, lozenges, tonics and a ginseng cosmetic range.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Iwi are encouraged by positive talks with Chinese trade authorities for access, with a response earlier this year inviting negotiations to begin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is culturally significant to the Chinese and they have a shortage of wild ginseng,\u201d Katu said.<\/p>\n

One of NZ\u2019s most established ginseng growers, Stuart Mirfin of Nelson said ginseng is not indifferent to the plants growing over it and appeared to favour good soils that might once have had native totara trees growing in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our other native plants would not be so good, such as beech forest areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cautioned ginseng likes moisture but abhors wet feet, with seed requiring two winters\u2019 exposure before germinating.<\/p>\n

Mirfin\u2019s own knowledge has come through 20 years of trial and error.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has determined the plant does best with the almost contradictory indicators of a low soil pH and high calcium levels, much of it coming from pine needles.<\/p>\n

He lamented NZ\u2019s monocultural, cropped approach to forestry and said a mixed-age forest might lend itself well to ginseng cropping over periods not limited to a pine forest\u2019s lifespan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was not so old I would plant in a deciduous forest but growing trees is not an old man\u2019s job and it\u2019s the same for ginseng.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katu said the labour requirement with ginseng comes at each end of its lifespan, planting and harvest seven years later.<\/p>\n

Mirfin noted it is not a cure all for all ailments and Western research into its medicinal effectiveness is thin on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, he pointed to some research that indicated a positive link between ginseng intake and a reduction in the instance of breast cancer and Russian research indicating it gives greater tolerance to radiation and chemotherapy treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With more than 2000 years of Chinese use as a tonic and medicine ginseng is a herb familiar to the world\u2019s fastest-growing consumer market, one increasingly seeking traditional therapies and tonics for a growing list of modern ailments.\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":31382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t