The thesis is based on the criteria of the analytical framework for development of medicinal plants towards sustainability; limitations of the status of development of medicinal plants; Based on the direction of development of medicinal plants, it gives points of view and orientations for development of medicinal plants in Lao Cai province.
1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In many developing countries, medicinal plants take an important role in health care services According to WHO (2008), 80% of African and Asian population uses medicinal plants for their health care treatments Medicinal plants have been creating potential livelihood opportunities for local farmers and help to diversify their plant portfolios Medicinal plants are recognized to be potential in Vietnam In fact, medicinal plants produce high economic value and make large contributions in poverty reduction in many provinces However, domestic medicinal plant cultivation and collection only meet a small demand of the total market (only 20-25%) (National institute of medicinal materials, 2006), the remaining is imported from China without tracking origin In addition, natural medicinal plant resource has been threaten and many species face with extinction Laocai is in the government’s developing roadmap of medicinal plants (According to the Decision number 1976) Currently, the province has completed its own detail medicinal plant development scheme Despite the fact medicinal plant cultivation still faces difficulties, the province has gained some positive outcomes In term of literature review, worldwide previous studies mainly focus on describing characteristics, species and reports statistic number of medicinal plants There is a few of studies on sustainable development of medicinal plants Only small number of studies report policy implications/ recommendations for sustainable development of medicinal plants It can be seen that the topic “Developing medicinal plants in Laocai province under sustainable direction” is essential and suitable for reality and academy 1.2 Research objectives The aim of the thesis is to complete the theoretical background of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction; based on the theoretical background, the thesis evaluates comprehensively the sustainable development of medicinal plants in Laocai Accordingly, the thesis proposes solutions and recommendations to develop medicinal plants under sustainable direction 1.3 Scope and subject of study Subject of study: The development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants in Laocai Scope of study: Secondary data covers the period of 2012-2018 Primary data is collected from the survey of 2017-2018 seasons of Actiso and Duong Quy in Laocai province 1.4 Research methodology 1.4.1 Data collecting A, Secondary data Local secondary data is collected from reports of the Ministry of Health, Central Institute of Medicine, Institute of Traditional Medicine, Laocai People Committee, Laocai Department of Health, Laocai Agriculture Department International secondary data is collected from WHO, FAO and relevant studies worldwide B, Primary data The thesis uses 02 methods to collect primary data including interviewing and surveying Interviewing is used to select indicators and factors suitable for the analytical framework of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction After developing the analytical framework, the author constructs the questionnaires Pilot questionnaires are delivered to 04 farmers and are revised before sending to the whole sample In total, 250 survey forms are sent to farmers who plants Actiso and Duong Quy in Sapa and Bac Ha districts The author chose Actiso and Duong Quy to present for medicinal plants in Laocai since these two kinds of medicinal plants are most popular in Laocai 1.4.2 Analyzing method A, Qualitative Analysis Qualitative analysis is used to describe and analyze the developing situation of medicinal plants in Laocai, Vietnam and worldwide In addition, this method is applied to design indicators and factors for the analytical framework of the thesis In particular, case study and interviewing are used to conduct the thesis B, Quantitative analysis Multi-factor regression is applied to analyze the statistic relationship between production factors and indicators of production efficiency and environment Linear regression is used for continuous data and logistic regression is applied for categorical data Assumption tests of regression are conducted in order to ensure that the multi-factor regressions not violate regression assumptions such as multicollinearity (tested by Pearson correlation test) and heteroscedasticity (corrected by robust command) Hosmer-Lemeshow test is also used to check the suitability of logistic regression for research data Stata package is used to analyze the study 1.5 New contributions First, the thesis proposes the definition and the connotation of local development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants Accordingly, local development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants is defined as aspects: (1) maintaining, conserving and expanding cultivated areas and species of medicinal plants; (2) improving productive efficiency; and (3) enhancing positive effects on local economy, society and environment Indicators to evaluate sustainability are also built based on three above aspects Second, by analyzing sustainable indicators of medicinal plants, the thesis has shown sustainable characteristics of medicinal plant development in Laocai: (1) increased cultivated areas (ha), expanded nature reserves and larger number of red list of threaten species are in-situ conserved; (2) much higher economic efficiency than other agricultural plants; (3) medicinal plants create positive effects on poverty reduction and job creation and (4) medicinal plants are more environmental friendly than rice and corn Third, the thesis identifies unstainable criteria of medicinal plant development in Laocai: (1) natural medicinal plant conservation reports some short comings such as small number of red list threatened species are successfully conserved, small and fragmented cultivated areas; (2) high initial production cost comparing to other agricultural plants (rice, corn), meanwhile medicinal plants are roughly produced to sell at low value and the production has not exploited the chain of value; (3) income from farmers especially those who are ethnic minorities is still highly unstable; (4) side-effects of medicinal plant production to environment has showed an increasing trend: erosion of soil, negative impacts on ecological environment resulting from wide use of pesticides, plants protection products and lacking of a recycled waste center Finally, the thesis has proved reasons leading to short comings of the sustainable development of medicinal plants in Laocai province, which consist of (1) inadequate land policy, lack of credit and investment in science technology and infrastructure;(2) weak capacity of producers;(3) weak cooperation in producing and consuming medicinal plants;(4) difficulties in the output market and (5) inefficient management CAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Overview of medicinal plants 1.1.1 Definition of medicinal plants According to the 2016 pharmaceutical law, “medicinal materials are defined as natural origin from plants, animals and minerals which are used as drugs” Accordingly, medicinal plants are plants, which qualify standards for drugs According to FAO, popular term indicates medicinal plants are Medicinal Aromatic Plants (MAPs) which help to protect people health (Marshall, 2011) 1.1.2 Distribution of natural medicinal plants Currently, there are 60,000 types of medicinal plants worldwide However, medicinal plants are not distributed equally among different geographic areas Medicinal plants are most popular in China and India There are 11,146 and 7,500 species in China and India respectively, followed by Colombia, South Africa, USA and 16 other countries 1.1.3 Medicinal plants’ role in economy and society For the time beings, medicinal plants are taking an important role in heath care in developing countries By the year of 2014, there have been 18,226 traditional medicinal health care centers, providing health care service for 80% of worldwide population (WHO, 2014) There are 3,000 medicinal plant species traded throughout the world According to United nation, total world export value of medicinal plants is 1.2 billion USD (custom declaration value) Above 30% of drug worldwide origins from medicinal plants (FAO, 2005) About 100 types of medicinal plants are used to produce western medicine Although modern production technology is in hand of large pharmaceutical corporations, this creates potential chances for farmers who can cultivate medicinal plants with large volume to provide input for large corporations 5 1.2 International literature review of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction 1.2.1 The connotation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction The connotation of developing medicinal plants consist of 03 aspects: (1) maintaining and conserving medicinal plants; (2) producing medicinal plants towards sustainability; (3) sustainably collecting natural medicinal plants and (4) sustainably using medicinal plants 1.2.2 Indicators evaluating the development under sustainable development of medicinal plants Indicators consist of reserves of natural medicinal plants, size of protected areas (Chen & et al., 2016); volume of collected medicinal plants (Hamilton, 2004); exported volume of medicinal plants (Prahalathan, 2004), number of species cultivated and cultivated areas (Van De Kop, P & et al., 2006), income and net income from producing medicinal plants (Nautiyal MC and Nautiyal BP, 2004) The above indicators mainly evaluate the conservation and productive efficiency of medicinal plants There is no study indicating indicators for evaluating the sustainable development of medicinal plants from the environment and society perspectives 1.2.3 Factors influencing the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants Empirical studies report that the factors influencing the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants consist of: (1) the ecological and natural conditions; (2) the infrastructural condition; (3) the capacity of related parties in the supply chain; (4) cultivating and collecting technology; (5) the technology development; (6) the market demand and (7) the government policy 1.3 Domestic literature review on developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction 1.3.1 The connotation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction The connotation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction is reflected in Phan Van Tan & et al (2013); Tran The Hung and Dinh Thi Le Giang (2014) Accordingly, the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants include 03 aspects: (1) reasonably conserving and exploiting natural medicinal plants; (2) producing medicinal plants in direction of safe, quality and efficiency and (3) increasing contribution of medicinal plants to fulfill the goals of economic and social development 1.3.2 Indicators Since most of studies on medicinal plants are conducted from technical perspective instead of economic view, indicators evaluating the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants are not discussed much in previous studies Only some indicators are mentioned in Laocai roadmap for medicinal plant development such as cultivated area, income and volume (Laocai People Committee, 2017) 1.3.3 Factors Local studies have indicated factors influencing the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants as follow: - People’s awareness in exploiting natural resource of medicinal plants - Technological capacity of producers - Infrastructure - Government mechanism and policy - Cooperation among related partners in the value chain of medicinal plants 1.3.4 Studies on the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants in Laocai province From technical perspective, Nguyen Ba Hoat (2002) and Tran Tuan Anh and Truong Ngoc Kiem (2017) studied the natural conditions, climate and ecological parameters to evaluate the adaptation of medicinal plants in Laocai Based on this evaluation, the authors proposed cultivating technology, producing process and economic model for medicinal plant households From economic perspective, the study conducted by Thai Nguyen University (2018) analyzed the strengths and the weaknesses in developing medicinal plants and the situation of medicinal plant cultivating area in Laocai during the period of 20152016 Based on this analysis, the study recommended solutions to develop medicinal plants locally including enhancing infrastructure, investing in technology and completing mechanism and government policy 1.4 Evaluating literature review and propose research gap Based on the literature review, it can be seen that: For international studies The topic of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction has been much studied from various perspectives and covered various periods All of the studies pointed out the important role of medicinal plants and the need to sustainably develop medicinal plants However, most of studies were conducted from technological perspective The theoretical framework of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction from economic, social and environmental perspectives has not completed For local studies Despite a limited number of studies on this topic, some results have been highlighted: - Studies have indicated the potentiality and competitive advantages to develop medicinal plants in Vietnam commonly and in Laocai particularly - Studies also pointed out the unsustainable problems of medicinal plant developing in some provinces in Vietnam - Studies also propose solutions to develop medicinal plants However, most of solutions are from producing techniques instead of a comprehensive solution from managerial and economic views - Regrading to studies on developing medicinal plants in Laocai: These studies evaluated the potentiality and the completive advantages of developing medicinal plants locally These studies also analyzed the situation of developing medicinal plants in Laocai However, this analysis is conducted from experience and technical perspectives An analysis from economic perspective has not been conducted From analyzing the research gap, the thesis aims to meet the following subjects: Firstly, the thesis builds and completes the analytical framework on the development under sustainable direction of medicinal plants from economic, social and environmental perspectives Secondly, the thesis analyzes comprehensively the situation of medicinal plant development towards sustainability in Laocai From this analysis, the thesis points out the strengths and the weaknesses, reasons of weaknesses and proposes solutions and recommendations to develop medicinal plants towards sustainability in Laocai CHAPTER 2: THEORITICAL FRAMWORK OF MEDICINAL PLANT DEVELOPMENT UNDER SUBSTAINABLE DIRECTION 2.1 Theoretical framework of medicinal plant development under sustainable direction 2.1.1 Development Medicinal plant development is defined as an aspect of the production development and consists of the following basic points of views: - Development is associated with an increase in quantity and quality - Development is an enhancement in term of width and depth - Development is the growth of scale and completion of the structure 2.1.2 Development under sustainable direction Development under sustainable direction is considered a balanced development among economy, society and environment It integrates production processes with resource conservation and is friendlier with environment It ensures satisfying current needs without compromising the ability to meet future demands Economically, it is growth, efficiency and stability Socially, it is poverty reduction, institution construction, preserving national heritage and culture Environmentally, it is biodiversity and adaption, conservation of natural resources and pollution prevention 2.1.3 Agricultural development under sustainable direction 2.1.3.1 The connotation of agricultural development towards under sustainable direction According to FAO (1990), “Agricultural development under sustainable direction is the management and conservation of organizational and technical changes to ensure the satisfaction of current and future needs Such development of agriculture (including forestry and aquaculture) will ensure that there is no harm to the environment, no natural resource reduction and will be technologically appropriate, economically efficient and socially acceptable 2.1.3.2 Indicators evaluating agricultural development towards under sustainable direction Indicators evaluating agricultural development towards sustainability consist of: (1) the group of environmental indicators; (2) the group of economic indicators and (3) the group of social indicators 9 10 2.1.3.3 Factors influencing agricultural development under sustainable direction Literature review shows 05 groups of factors including: (1) factors of natural condition;(2) factors of producers;(3) factors of policy and institution;(4) factors of production cooperation and (5) factors of market 2.2 The analytical framework of medicinal plant development under sustainable direction 2.2.1 Definition and characteristics of medicinal plants 2.2.1.1 Definition According to 2016 the pharmaceutical law, “Medicinal materials are of natural origin from plants, animals, and minerals and meet the medicinal standards.” Thus, medicinal plants are understood as plants that meet the standards of medicine 2.2.1.2 Characteristics of medicinal plants Comparing to food crops such as corn and rice, medicinal plants have different characteristics as follows: First, medicinal plants need an output market and the support of medicinal and pharmaceutical knowledge to be produced as goods Second, medicinal plant supply includes natural medicinal plants and cultivated medicinal plants Natural medicinal plants take the majority of total supply Therefore, the development of medicinal plants must be associated with the preservation and maintenance of natural medicinal sources in parallel with improving the efficiency of medicinal plant production Third, medicinal plants are closely associated with the culture and beliefs of indigenous peoples Therefore, the development of medicinal plants should also be associated with positive effect on society and the community Fourth, there are various species of medicinal plants, each of which has its own biological characteristic and therapeutic property Therefore, it requires the comprehensive support of technology and basic science research to develop medicinal plants Fifth, because medicinal plants are used for health care, they are highly required to be clean The quality of medicinal plants is not only assessed on the content of therapeutic active ingredients but also on clean and environmentally friendly aspects Six, medicinal plant production needs complex farming and processing techniques 2.2.2 Medicinal plant development under sustainable direction 2.2.2.1 The connotation of medicinal plant development under sustainable direction The author defines medicinal plant development under sustainable direction as follows: “Medicinal plant development under sustainable direction is to maintain, conserve and expand the scale and quantity, improve the production efficiency and enhance positive effects on society and environment” 2.2.2.2 Indicators evaluating medicinal the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction Indicators evaluating medicinal plant development under sustainable direction consist of 05 groups: (1) indicators of maintaining, conserving and expanding quantity and scale; (2) indicators of improving production efficiency; (3) indicators of enhancing positive effects on society and (4) indicators of enhancing positive effects on environment 2.2.2.3 Factors influencing on the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction There are 05 groups of factors influencing the sustainable development of medicinal plants, including: (1) factors of natural conditions; (2) factors of producers; (3) factors of policy and institutional factors; (4) factors of production cooperation and (5) factors of market The figure below describes the analytical framework of medicinal plant development under sustainable direction Solutions and recommendations Causes Analyzing factors Outcomes and shortcomings Analyzing indicators Situation Positive effects on environtment Positive effects on society Interviewing Case study Multi factor regression Producer Improving production efficiency Maintaining, conserving and expanding INDICATORS CONNOTATION Interviewing specialists CHAPTER 3: THE SITIUATION OF MEDICINAL PLANT DEVELOPMENT UNDER SUSTAINBLE DIRECTION IN LAOCAI PROVINCE Market Cooperation FACTORS Policy Natural condition Interviewing specialists THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK LITERATURE REVIEW Figure 1: The analytical framework of medicinal plant development under sustainable direction in Laocai 11 12 3.1 The worldwide situation of medicinal plant development 3.1.1 Worldwide medicinal plant supply According to FAO (2005), there are two sources of medicinal plants in the world including: natural collection and cultivation Currently the source of natural medicinal herbs provides up to 90% of total world consumption of medicinal plants (Chen et al., 2016) Medicinal plant cultivation currently only provides 10% of total herbal consumption worldwide 3.1.2 The situation of consumption, import and export of medicinal plants in the world According to researchers, medicinal plants meet about 80% of the medicinal needs of people in developing countries (Ramawat and Ahuja, 2016) and over 25% of prescribed drugs in developed countries Estimated global market value for medicinal plants is USD 83 billion in 2008 (Barata et al., 2016) and grows annually at a rate of 7-10 % (Nagpal and Karki, 2004; Subrat, 2005) The total trading turnover of medicinal plants is mainly concentrated in major international trade centers including Germany, America, Japan and Hong Kong 3.1.3 Supply chain of medicinal plants The supply chain of medicinal plants includes 06 to 07 steps starting from collecting and harvesting, preliminarily processing, local purchasing, regional purchasing, wholesalers, special suppliers and customers 3.1.4 The situation of exhausted natural medicinal plant resource in the world Overexploitation and environmental depression have led to a serious depletion of natural medicinal resources worldwide On average, every two years the earth loses a valuable medicinal plant (Pimm et al., 1995) According to the International Committee for Conservation of Nature and the Wildlife World, there are about 15,000 medicinal plants in danger of extinction due to over-exploitation and decline of the ecological environment (Chen et al., 2016) ) In addition, nearly 20% of natural medicinal resources are almost exhausted due to population growth and increasing demand 13 14 3.2 The situation of the medicinal plant development in Vietnam 3.2.1 State governance of medicinal plants Based on the functions and tasks currently assigned, medicinal plants are under the management of the Ministry of Health However, in fact, the management of medicinal plants is related to many other ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Defense and the People Committees 3.2.2 Potentiality of medicinal plants in Vietnam The survey on indigenous knowledge reported experience of using medicinal plants of ethnic minorities: H'Mong (Lao Cai), Muong (Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Yen Bai), Dao (Ba Vi, Lao Cai, Hoa Binh, Vinh Phuc), Ka Tu (Thua Thien Hue), Van Kieu (Tay Nguyen), Tay (Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Can, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen) ), Nung (Lang Son), San Diu (Vinh Phuc), Kho Me (An Giang) The list of 15 medicinal plants of major ethnic groups has been summarized Collecting 1,296 traditional medicinal remedies of ethnic groups However, these finished products are in the form of raw materials and low competitive 3.2.3 The conservation and development of medicinal gene sources Some key features in the conservation and development of genetic resources of medicinal plants are as follows: - Vietnam currently maintains a genetic resource conservation network in 07 ecological regions - Vietnam has identified the number of medicinal plants in need of preservation in the national gardens - Conserving 1,531 gene sources of 884 species of medicinal plants in medicinal gardens, storing seed of 200 species; ex-situ conserving 15 species - 100% of conserved genetic resources are initially assessed; 30% of genetic resources are evaluated in detail on growth and development indicators - Genetic resources and varieties of nearly 30 medicinal plant species are selected 3.2.4 Medicinal plant cultivation and collection According to the survey of the period 2013 - 2015 conducted by the Institute of Medicinal Materials (Ministry of Health, 2017), there are about 70 species / groups of potential medicinal plants with an estimated reserve of 18,372 tons / year Of which, 45/70 groups of species have great exploited volume such as diep ca, cau tich, lac tien, rau dang dat, ngu gia bi chan chim, thien nien kien Among of 4,000 types of the medicinal plants, only over 500 species of medicinal plants have been cultivated and used as food, and spices In fact, there are only about 92 species of medicinal plants grown for market demand 3.2.5 Processing, manufacturing and trading pharmaceutical materials According to data from the Ministry of Health (2016), as of February 2017, there are about 200 medicinal businesses nationwide, of which 12 have invested in processing equipment and facility medicine Most facilities only perform preliminary processing of pharmaceutical materials The investment in facilities and equipment for processing pharmaceutical materials is very important to ensure the quality of pharmaceutical materials Especially, postharvest processing ensures the content of active ingredients in pharmaceutical materials However, most facilities have not invested in post-harvest pharmaceutical processing technologies 3.2.6 Import and export of medicinal plants As of March 2016, the Ministry of Health has granted permission to import pharmaceutical materials for 16 enterprises with a total imported volume of 93,000 tons According to the Ministry of Health, in 2016, about 2,000 tons of medicinal materials were imported to Vietnam Regarding exports, according to data of the General Department of Customs (2012 - 2016), domestic enterprises exported about 1,000-5,000 tons of pharmaceutical materials, with export value of USD15-30 million / year The market for herbal medicines exports is mainly Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and some European countries such as France and Russia 3.3 The situation of medicinal plant development under sustainable direction in Laocai province 3.3.1 Overview of natural, economic and social condition in Laocai 3.3.1.1 Natural condition Laocai is a border highland province in the Northwest region, reestablished in October 1991 The natural area of the province is 638,389.58 15 16 The whole province has 01 city, 08 districts, 144 communes, 12 wards and towns Laocai has different forms of terrain ranging from valley, low mountains to high mountains 3.3.1.2 Economic condition Laocai is a province with high economic growth in the country On average, in the period of 2014-2018, the Gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of Laocai increase by over 10% of which industry achieved the highest growth rate of over 14%, service (8%) and agriculture (5%) Income per capita of Laocai has increased over years but still been lower than the national average In 2017, the average national income per capita is 2,385 USD while the average income per capita of Laocai is 2,296 USD This shows that the economic condition and average income level of Laocai is still low 3.3.1.3 Social condition According to the province's statistics, the average population in 2015 of Laocai is 665,152 people, of which rural population is 513,189 people, accounting for 77.15% of the whole population In general, the agricultural labor force with technical and professional qualifications in Laocai is still low; many farmers still live below the poverty line 3.3.2 Situation of medicinal plant development in Laocai 3.3.2.1.The prospect of medicinal plant development in Laocai Laocai has potential prospect to develop both natural and cultivated medicinal plants According to the estimates of the provincial People's Committee, Laocai currently has a densely packed area of 205.5 hectares of natural medicinal herbs For cultivated medicinal herbs, the area for growing medicinal herbs is increasing 3.3.2.2 The situation of conservation and exploitation of natural medicinal plants Currently, Laocai implements medicinal plant conservation through natural conservation areas and medicinal plant research centers In addition to some achievements, the conservation and management of natural medicinal plants have not been properly concerned and ineffective Many rare medicinal plants are in dangers and biodiversity gradually losses, which are urgent problems in Laocai 3.3.2.3 The situation of medicinal plant production in Laocai From 2012-2016, the total area of medicinal herbs in Laocai province increased sharply, in 2014 the area increased by 35% compared to 2012, in 2015 increased by 86% compared to 2014 and in 2016 increased by 51% Currently, the production of medicinal plants in Laocai province is mainly in the form of households The size of area per household varies depending on the type of crop With the group of medicinal plants intercropped in forestland, the scale of production per household is relatively large, ranging from 0.5-5 per household For annual medicinal plants such as Actiso, Xuyen khung, Duong Quy,Bach Truat, the scale of production is relatively small from 50-1000 m2 / household Over 95% of medicinal plant production are sold to companies and small businesses, only 5% of medicinal plants are sold at markets or in households 3.3.2.4 Analyzing the situation of developing medicinal plants in sustainable direction in Laocai province A Indicators evaluating the development of medicinal plants towards sustainability in Laocai province - Maintaining, preserving and expanding scale and quantity The conservation in Laocai province has positive changes such as increasing number of areas (ha) planned in natural conservation parks and larger percentage of trees listed in red data book in-situ conserved However, the preservation of medicinal plants in Laocai is still limited as the number of trees in the data red book ex-situ conserved is still low and the rate of deforestation increases year by year In addition, the area of cultivation of medicinal plants tends to increase over years and increase sharply after 2016, which implies that medicinal plants are increasingly being produced on a larger scale - Improving production efficiency of medicinal plants Indicators including the growth rate of cultivated area, average yield and average income showed that compared to other agricultural crops such as rice and corn, medicinal plants create much higher economic efficiency - Enhancing positive effects on society Medicinal plants contribute positively to the development of society through poverty reduction and job creation However, poverty reduction targets cannot be clearly seen 17 18 - Enhancing positive effects on environment Medicinal plants are more environmentally friendly than rice and corn Survey results show that, on average, the amount of pesticide and irrigation water used for medicinal plants is lower than that of rice and corn, while the amount of organic fertilizer used for medicinal plants is higher than that of corn and rice B Factors influencing the development of medicinal plants towards sustainability in Laocai - Natural condition factors The group of natural conditions has a positive impact on the sustainable development of medicinal plants In Laocai, red yellow soils on acid magma (Fa), yellow red loam on clay and metamorphic rocks (Hs), red yellow loam soil on magma rock (Ha) take a large portion of area and are evaluated to be very suitable for many medicinal plants Each species of medicinal herbs is suitable for each type of height, for example, Duong Quy is suitable for altitude of 1,300-1,800m and Sa Nhan Tim is suitable for the height of 300-800m Based on natural factors, there are three districts most suitable for cultivating medicinal herbs, namely Sapa, Bac Ha and Bat Xat - Factors of producers Factors of producer have a direct impact on the sustainable development of medicinal plants in term of improving production efficiency and positively spreading to the environment Multi-factor regression results of the thesis show that the application of GACP standards and training participation are two main factors that have a positive impact on medicinal plant productivity and average income of farmers In addition, the thesis also finds a positive impact of investment in irrigation systems on yield of Duong Quy crops For the indicator of enhancing positive effect on the environment, the thesis shows that participating in training and application of GACP standards contribute to limiting the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers by farmers, thus improving the environmental friendliness of cultivating medicinal plants However, the regression results show that education level has a positive relationship with the use of pesticides - Factors of policy and institutions This group of factors, including policies on the preservation of medicinal plants, the cultivation and consumption of medicinal plants, have a positive impact on creating a legal corridor for commodity development for medicinal plants However, because there is no specific policy for medicinal plants, the effectiveness of this factor group is still limited Although local policies have actively contributed to the development of goods for medicinal plant, in the long term, supporting policies on inputs and outputs will have a negative impact on the sustainable development of medicinal plants because these policies lead to passivity and dependence of farmers on mechanisms and policies - Factors of cooperation in producing and consuming medicinal plants The cooperation in producing and consuming of medicinal plants among farmers, enterprises and traditional medicinal centers is essential for the development of medicinal plants towards sustainability in Laocai since this cooperation enhance the sustainability in both demand and supply However, the participation of companies and traditional medicinal centers in medicinal plant production is still limited Therefore, the market and production of medicinal plants have not been truly sustainable - Market factors Market factors have a positive impact on the sustainable development of medicinal plants From the perspective of consumption market, the thesis shows that the demand for medicinal plants in both domestic and international markets is potential with rapid growth However, in order to take advantage of these potential opportunities, it is necessary to have a synchronous development of production, marketing, advertising and quality management of medicinal plants as well as products The price factor of a number of tree species planted under projects such as Duong Quy and Actiso is quite stable and independent from the market, however for some other plants, the price is still dependent on traders 3.4 Overal assessment of the situation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction in Laocai province 3.4.1 Achievements 3.4.1.1 Maintaining, conserving and expanding Conservation of natural medicinal plants has initially achieved good results such as the establishment of 02 new protected areas, increasing the total area of natural forest to be preserved to 27.42% Protected areas, especially Hoang Lien National Park have well implemented the control and conservation of many species of medicinal plants in the red book Cultivated area tends to increase 19 20 3.4.1.2 Enhancing the production effiecincy Medicinal plants have much higher economic efficiency than other traditional agricultural plants such as rice and corn Laocai has natural condition favorable for cultivating medicinal plants in cultivation of medicinal plants Laocai is assessed to be suitable to cultivate precious medicinal plants with high economic value such as Tam That, Duong Quy, Actiso, Cat Canh, and Sa Nhan Tim 3.4.1.3 Positive effects on society Development of medicinal plants creates positive effects on society According to the statistics of the Laocai People's Committee, the percentage of poor households in six districts growing medicinal plants with the largest scale in Laocai has been reduced from 8%(2017) to 4%(2018) The development of medicinal plants also contributes to creating jobs for farmers Besides, the development of medicinal plants helps to maintain and develop good cultural and intellectual values of indigenous people 3.4.1.4 Positive effects on environtment Cultivating medicinal plants is friendly with environment Practical research shows that the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in medicinal plant cultivation is much lower than that of corn and rice Medicinal cultivation also does not cause soil and water source degradation The application of modern medicinal cultivation techniques, according to clean standards (GACP), contributes to maintaining and improving soil quality Development of medicinal plants contributes directly to forest protection Natural medicinal plants are an important part of the forest The preservation and maintenance of natural medicinal plants is extremely important for the environment because it contributes to protecting forests, protecting the ecological environment and biodiversity of natural animals and plants Development of medicinal plants contributes to the development of land Most medicinal plants are suitable to be cultivated in red and yellow soils and yellow humus on high mountains Therefore, the cultivation of medicinal plants does not significantly affect the land area 3.4.2 The drawbacks 3.4.2.1 Maintaining, conserving and expanding the quantity and quality Conservation of natural medicinal plants is still limited: there are no separate policies to preserve natural medicinal plants, rare and precious genetic resources, and no statistical data on types, quantities and the geographical location of species distribution Therefore, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of maintenance and conservation activities The number of successfully preserved red book species is low There is no gene bank for rare and precious pharmaceutical materials Research and development of natural rare and precious pharmaceutical gene sources are still limited There is a serious decline in natural medicinal sources The deforestation is still widespread; the collection of natural medicinal materials has not been strictly managed Natural medicinal plants are rampantly collected, which leads to a serious decline of natural medicinal plant resource, even many species are at risk of extinction The area of land for planting medicinal plants is small and fragmented meanwhile some of medicinal plants are required to be rotational after each season 3.4.2.2 Production effieciency Initial production costs of medicinal plants are higher than that of other argricultral crops (rize, maixe) In addition, productivity of medicinal plants is low meanwhile its economic value is not high 3.4.2.3 Effects on society Except for some types of medicinal plants, which are output subsidized such as Duong Quy, Actiso and Che day, other medicinal plants are all sold in the market at unstable price Therefore, household income from growing medicinal plants is not stable and depends on the subsidiary policy of the government 3.4.2.4.Effects on environment Except for some plants that are grown according to clean standards and strictly controlled by agricultural extension staffs, there is still a phenomenon of pesticide spraying, widespread use of chemical fertilizers in cultivation of medicinal plants In some places, due to poor technical processing, soil erosion is popular There is no waste recycle center adapting requirement 3.4.3 Causes of the drawbacks of the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction in Laocai The thesis points out the flowing causes of the drawbacks of the sustainable development in Laocai: (1) policy-related causes; (2) causes related producer and businessman capacities; (3) causes related to the cooperation in production and consumption of pharmaceutical materials; (4) causes from market and (5) causes related to medicinal plant management 21 CHAPTER 4: ORIENTATIONS AND SOLUTIONS TO DEVELOPE MEDICINAL PLANTS UNDER SUSTAINABLE DIRECTION IN LAOCAI PROVINCE 4.1 Viewpoints and orientations for the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction towards 2030 4.1.1 Vietnam viewpoints and orientation for the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction 4.1.1.1 Viewpoints According to the Decision 1976 / QD-TTg dated October 30, 2013, the viewpoint on the sustainable development of medicinal plants is to maintain and conserve natural medicinal plants, improve the production efficiency of medicinal plants and encourage the participation of all economic sectors, of which enterprises and the government play the role of supporting investment and research in science and technology to create a foundation for sustainable development of medicinal plants 4.1.1.2 Orientations The orientation towards sustainable development of medicinal plants in Vietnam includes: (1) sustainable conservation and exploitation of natural medicinal materials; (2) developing cultivation of medicinal plants; (3) developing medicinal seed sources; (5) improve the competitiveness of pharmaceutical products; (6) invest in preliminary processing, processing and extracting medicinal herbs 4.1.2 Laocai viewpoints and orientations for the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction 4.1.2.1 Viewpoints According to Decision No 4478 / QD-UBND dated December 14, 2016 of Laocai People's Committee, the view of developing medicinal plants under a sustainable direction in Laocai province focuses on two main areas including (1) commodity development and (2) preserving medicinal natural resources 4.1.2.2 Orientations The orientation of Laocai from now to 2030 is to develop medicinal plants, increase cultivation area and apply GACP standards for medicinal plants to improve product quality and stabilize output 22 4.1.3 Thesis’s Laocai viewpoints and orientations for the development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction 4.1.3.1 Viewpoints The thesis gives a view on sustainable development of medicinal plants in Lao Cai province, including: (1) development of medicinal plants is considered as the main orientation in agricultural development and crop restructuring in Lao Cai province; (2) development of medicinal plants must take into account the factors of sustainability and be associated with economic, social and environmental issues; (3) developing medicinal plants associated with the production and consumption; (4) development of medicinal plants associated with development of population communities, and (5) the state must have mechanisms and policies to support the sustainable development of medicinal plants 4.1.3.2 Orientations Orientation of developing medicinal plants towards sustainability includes: (1) Developing special policies for the conservation of natural medicinal plants; (2) Improving the effectiveness of forest management, and reducing the rate of destroying natural forests with medicinal plants; (3) Expanding area and volume according to the planning roadmap for planting medicinal plants (4) The State continues to invest in infrastructure, science and technology and develop genetic resources (5) expanding output and (6) strengthening management of medicinal cultivation processes 4.2 Solutions to develop medicinal plants under sustainable direction in Laocai province 4.2.1 Governmental policies Governmental policies consist of (1) policies on preserving and maintaining natural medicinal plants; (2) policies for land; (3) credit policies and (4) investment policies and technology and infrastructure policies 4.2.2 Enhancing the capacity of producers and businessmen In order to improve the capacity of producers and traders of medicinal plants, following solutions should be implemented: (1) universities and colleges need to invest in training and research about medicinal plants; (2) agricultural extension work should be more appreciated to help farmers efficiently produce medicinal plants and reduce losses resulting from crop failures and pests; (3) 23 24 strengthening training through mass media and (4) strengthening community education in each village and commune 4.2.3 Developing the output market The group of solutions to develop the output market includes: (1) establishing special production areas and enhancing the cooperation among production, procession and consumption; (2) building a stable market by building a band name of clean medicinal plants cultivated according to GACP standards 4.2.4 Building a model of community based medicinal plants management A community-based medicinal plant management model helps to reduce the management burden for the state, ensure and improve the benefits of the people In order to implement this model, it is necessary to have the support of the authorities at all levels to educate households to grow medicinal plants suitably with local conditions based on the principle of ensuring the benefits of local citizens 4.2.4 Enhancing the role of the state in developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction In order to enhance the role of the state in the development of medicinal plants under a sustainable direction , it is necessary to: (1) ensure the consistency and efficiency in policies and views on the development of medicinal plants under the sustainable direction; (2) strengthen coordination in state management to develop medicinal plants sustainably and (3) strengthen coordination of four houses in planting medicinal plants The four houses include medicinal plant growers (farmers), businesses (drug production or business), scientists (universities and research institutes of medicinal materials) and the government 4.3 Recomemdations In order to implement the above solutions, the thesis proposes recommendations to the Government, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Information and communication have the sustainability of the output, which currently cannot be done by Laocai province Although the output market of medicinal plants is very potential, it is very difficult to develop the output market sustainably due to low technology, small consumption of medicinal plants in traditional medicine, no brand name and no medicinal plant association Second, compared to corn and rice, medicinal plants have a more positive environmental effect, but to maintain this effect in the long term, it is necessary to strengthen the application of standards for cultivating clean medicinal herbs such as GACP and Fair wild sustainable collection standards Third, in terms of maintaining, conserving and expanding the scale and quantity, although some initial results have been achieved, the sustainability is not yet ensured due to uncontrolled collection and ineffective conservation in protected areas Fourth, under the social perspective, medicinal plants help to reduce poverty and create job However, in order to ensure social sustainability, it is important to maintain economic sustainability, which depends heavily on the sustainability of the output market Fifth, in terms of factors, the thesis results show that the application of GACP and participation in training have a positive impact on production efficiency and environment Institutional and policy factors also initially have a positive impact on the product development of medicinal plants However, their impact on the sustainable development of medicinal plants has not been clear because of lacking a specific policy for medicinal plants There is no association supporting for market development and the cooperation in production and consumption is weak Laocai natural condition is highly suitable for growing many types of medicinal plants Laocai has introduced 22 types of medicinal plants in its developing roadmap Domestic and international markets for medicinal plants are potential but the market access ability of processed products originated from medicinal plants is still weak The thesis proposed the following solutions: (1) policy improvement; (2) improve the capacity of pharmaceutical producers and traders; (3) developing the output market; (4) developing a model of community-based medicinal plants management and (5) improving the role of the state in the development of medicinal plants under the sustainable direction In addition, the thesis also proposes recommendations to implement these solutions CONCLUSION In summary, based on the analytical framework for development of medicinal plants under sustainable direction in Lao Cai province, the results of the thesis show that: Firstly, medicinal plants in Laocai province are evaluated to be sustainable in terms of production efficiency However, in order to continue to maintain and develop this sustainability of medicinal plants, it is necessary to ... developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction 1.3.1 The connotation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction The connotation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable. .. connotation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction The connotation of developing medicinal plants consist of 03 aspects: (1) maintaining and conserving medicinal plants; (2) producing... assessment of the situation of developing medicinal plants under sustainable direction in Laocai province 3.4.1 Achievements 3.4.1.1 Maintaining, conserving and expanding Conservation of natural medicinal