Most Canadians would turn their noses up at the thought of eating it, but ginseng may one day grow into British Columbia's top cash crop.
It is already worth US$50 million (HK$3.87 billion) a year, thanks largely to a voracious appetite for the root in Asia.
Canadian John Latta's Chai-Nah-Ta Corporation was the first to plant ginseng in British Columbia in 1981. The company is now the world's largest ginseng grower, says president Gerry Gill who can rattle off enough glowing statistics to make you want to rush home and plant a few roots in your backyard.
"In the 1996 fiscal year we exported over US$30 million worth of ginseng ," he said.
"Most of it went to Hong Kong and China and was used in traditional medicines."
Mr Gill said the harvest was thin last autumn because of a wet spring but the company still made millions. The outlook was promising with a shortage forecast in China.
North American ginseng , native to areas in eastern Canada and the United States, is endangered in the wild. It may take 25 years to 35 years for a root to grow but seconds to rip it out of the ground for a prospective Asian buyer. The wild root may sell for US$700 per kilogram and up to 10 times that in Asia.
Cultivated roots sell for less but are still valuable. The worldwide ginseng crop, of which about 20 per cent is North American ginseng , is worth US$3 billion a year.
Ginseng properties are said to be different. Asian ginseng is a body-warming stimulant while North American ginseng cools and calms the body.
SOURCE : South China Morning Post
1997. 02.
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