A Project of
Appalachia – Science in the Public Interest
50 Lair St, Mt. Vernon, KY 40456
Phone / Fax – 606-256-0077 / 2779
Website - http://www.a-spi.org/ E-mail - aspi@a-spi.org
Table of Contents
International
Ginseng Conference 2003 Goes
“Down Under”
Book
Review
Ginseng Companion Plant
Series
By Ben Perry
The Australian Ginseng Growers Association
(AGGA), Crop and Food Research, and Rural Industries Research and Development
Corporation sponsored the 3rd International Ginseng Conference
on November 27th through 30th, 2003, at the world famous
Hilton on the Park in Melbourne Australia. The theme of this years conference
was “The Globalisation of Ginseng”.
Objectives of the event included:
1) Providing a forum through which the impacts
of globalization on Ginseng can be discussed and understood
2) Presentation of new research on cultivation,
use and marketing of ginseng
3) Sharing the fruits of research presented
at previous conferences
4) Global networking to better understand
world markets and their effect on non-traditional medicine
Presentation and discussion topics included
marketing, medicinal & cosmetic applications, food & beverage additives,
export development and regulations. Attendees
represented all facets of ginseng-related work, from government officials
to growers, physicians to naturopaths, and marketers to conservation biologists.
Keynote speakers included internationally renowned experts Dr. Paul But, a
biologist and Chinese medicine researcher at the University of Hong Kong,
Dr. Kwang-Tae Choi, a researcher with the Korean Society of Ginseng, Dr. Scott
Persons, author of “American Ginseng: Green Gold”, and Dr. Laura Murphy, whom
ASPI has collaborated with on her ground-breaking research on prostate and
breast cancers.
American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) has
been grown in Australia since 1984 and is now grown in every state in Australia
but the Northern Territory. Successful trials have also been going on in Tasmania
and New Zealand for 6 to 8 years, proving that ginseng can be a viable crop
in the southern hemisphere. Korean, or Oriental Ginseng (Panax ginseng) is
also being grown successfully in the southern hemisphere. Australia is actively supporting ginseng as
an export crop for the European and Asian markets and they could provide stiff
competition for Appalachian ginseng in the not-too-distant future. One advantage for Australia is that they have
no native ginseng population to manage or protect, which should simplify their
regulatory process. There is also no tradition of wild gathering, which should
minimize poaching for awhile at least.
The Australian Ginseng Growers Association (AGGA) website (www.ginsengaustralia.org) reports that cultivated ginseng fetches about $17 to $68 per pound dried (or $50 to $200 Aussie dollars per kilogram) and wild simulated brings $68 to $614 per pound (or $200 to $1800 Aussie dollars per kilogram). The website also offers a net profit figure of $75,000 per planted acre ($100,000 Australian) after 7 years, based on a selling price of a little more than $100 per pound for organic, woodland grown ginseng. There is no mention of poaching as an issue, but one would imagine that as the Australian public learns more about the value of ginseng, it will become a problem.
In 2003 the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded Appalachian Ohio non-profit group Rural Action (www.ruralaction.org), to work on state ginseng policy. Through Rural Action Forestry’s experience in working with medicinal plant producers since 1998, it was clear that poaching was the biggest problem facing not only growers but also wild ginseng populations. Rural Action’s Forestry Program decided to focus on ginseng poaching and the current policies that govern ginseng harvesting in Ohio.
The Forestry Program at Rural Action had actually been working on the ginseng poaching issue since 1999, focusing primarily on getting the opening date of harvest season for ginseng moved back and working with growers on cultivation and security issues. A committee of local growers, harvesters and botanists has provided guidance along with way in developing a plan for pursuing this issue.
The committee has come up with several ideas. These include developing a stricter, more enforceable ginseng poaching law in Ohio, generating income from ginseng harvesting to help the state enforce the laws via licensing for harvesters, and doing educational outreach to growers, harvesters, judges, prosecutors and law enforcement personnel. We have been able to meet with and garner some support from the Ohio Division of Natural Resources (ODNR), who in 2003 moved the opening of harvest season from August 15th to September 1st. We have begun an educational campaign including the development of a website dedicated to ginseng poaching issues (www.growginseng.org), development of educational materials and handouts, and a new “Grow it, don’t poach it – Protect Appalachian Heritage” ginseng t-shirt.
Currently we are trying to collect stories from individuals who have been poached and do some interviews with anyone willing to share a story about ginseng growing, harvesting and poaching. We are going to be producing an educational video in 2004 that will be aimed at educating the judges, prosecutors and law enforcement personnel about the importance of combating the poaching problem here in Ohio.
If you would like to get involved or have a story to share, please contact Chip Carroll at (740) 742-4401 or chipc@ruralaction.org
Edited by Eric T. Jones, Rebecca J. McLain and James Weigand
University Press of Kansas, 2002, 445 pages
by Ben Perry
One thing
I must say right off is that this is not a light read. Although not overly
technical, it assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of botany
and ecology and it offers a level of detail and specificity regarding many
topics that would lose most casual readers.
The nice thing about it from a reader’s point of view is that each
chapter is a story unto itself, so you can read a chapter at a time and in
any order that suits you based on your particular interests and the time you
have available for reading. I would venture to say that very few readers will
ever go cover to cover with this one. I know I haven’t and probably never
will, but that doesn’t detract from the value of the book.
Each chapter is written by an author or authors based on their particular area of expertise, research or experience and they are organized into 5 parts: Part 1, Past and Present, begins with an historical overview of NTFP uses in the northeast US. It then looks at sociocultural influences on research, policy and management, which are followed by several case studies offering overviews of various geographic locations throughout the US. Part 2, Commerce and Conservation, includes chapters on topics such as marketing, sustainable harvesting, NTFP certification, wildcrafting vs monoculture and NTFP inventorying and monitoring, plus a few case studies. Part 3, Native American Claims, begins with a chapter on Indian reserved rights to gather NTFPs on public lands and then offers case studies related to the issue. Part 4, Policy and Management, begins with a chapter on federal NTFP policy and management, followed by a couple of case studies. Part 5, Customary Claims to Use Rights on Public Lands, discusses conflicts between customary claims (long-standing traditional NTFP harvesting practices) and formal laws that often attempt to prohibit or regulate these practices, and offers examples of how these conflicts have played out both at the national and international levels.
Each chapter is followed by a list of references
for those interested in further reading or research, and there are 9 appendices
offering information from plant names, to agencies in charge of inventorying
and monitoring NTFPs, to the methods used for these tasks. There is also a
list of the authors of the various chapters with brief bios for each one.
Unfortunately, the book contains little
specific information about ginseng, but this information can be located readily
via the index. There is some historical background in the Past and Present
section, information about tracking ginseng exports and ginseng’s value related
to various growing options in the Commerce and Conservation section,
and information about regulation of ginseng by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
and other agencies under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES), the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act and other legislation,
in the Policy and Management section.
I would not recommend the book to anyone
looking for general information on ginseng, but it does offer a wealth of
information and insight on the historical, social, political and economic
contexts in which the ginseng market operates. In short, this book is about
the big picture as it relates to NTFPs, and I would recommend it to anyone
who has a vested interest in becoming a more enlightened grower, gatherer,
marketer, researcher, manager or consumer of NTFPs.
The book retails for $29.95 + $5 shipping and handling and can be purchased
from
ASPI by calling Ben or Martha at 606-256-0077 or emailing benperry@a-spi.org. Allow 2-3 weeks for shipping.
by Dan Bond
Jack-in-the-Pulpit is a shy plant, and is rarely found near cities or cultivated land. They are native to the eastern US and Canada, as far west as Minnesota, and are found throughout the southern Appalachians. They prefer low-lying woods, swamps and boggy areas but sometimes grow on steep slopes in rich soil. In the wild, they are often found growing in large groups or colonies, in dappled to deep shade near running water. Despite its love of moisture, the roots can be harmed or killed by excess moisture during the winter or early spring. Jack-in-the-Pulpit is tolerant of a wide soil pH range, from somewhat acidic to somewhat alkaline, but it should be high in organic matter.
The plant begins as an unusual sort of green vase called a spathe. It is made from a single leaf, with a stalk growing up the middle of it and a leaf-hood folded gracefully over its top. Eventually, the stalk in the middle grows berries, which turn a brilliant red, and the rest of the plant dies away, leaving only the berry-covered stalk, or spadix. The spadix and spathe resemble the roofed pulpit sometimes found in European churches and cathedrals. There are a variety of colorings to the Jack-in-the-Pulpit that run from green to purplish-brown on both the spandix or jack and the striped pulpit, which is often streaked or mottled. Each plant produces one bloom beneath the leaves on a short stalk. The unique flowers are similar in form to that of the calla lily.
