Improving Household Income by Growing Medicinal Plants in Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam: A Case Study of Celastrus hindsii

Abstract

The study focused on surveying and evaluating factors affecting the income of households growing medicinal plants in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. To ensure the sample size, the expected number of samples was 120 to survey medicinal herb growers in Lac Thuy, Luong Son, Yen Thuy districts, and Hoa Binh City (it was expected that 30 samples were to be collected in each district or city). After screening the survey results, the collected data was reduced to 109 samples that met the requirements for providing all necessary survey information for analysis. These are good signs in the transformation of crop structure in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. Factors affecting mixed income of farmer households growing medicinal plants include fertilizers and pesticide costs, selling prices, infield transportation, and propaganda – incentives. Therefore, necessary solutions in the coming period to improve household income of farmers growing medicinal plants in Hoa Binh province include: (i) Promoting training, propaganda and encouragement for farmers to grow medicinal herbs; (ii) Investing in upgrading the internal transport system in medicinal herb production areas; and (iii) Strengthening linkages in promoting the consumption of medicinal products. Developing the cultivation of medicinal plants is an effective solution for raising household income in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam.