By Eric Brand

As practitioners of Chinese medicine, we often wonder about the origin of the herbal products that we use. How many of the products that we use are cultivated and how many are wildcrafted? As Chinese medicine grows worldwide, will wild plant populations be sufficient to meet the global demand? Will new growing regions emerge, will wildcrafting expand into new ecosystems? Some of these questions are beyond the scope of a simple blog, but let’s look at some statistics on Chinese herb production to get a feel for the situation.

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Over 1200 herbal products are estimated to be available on the Chinese domestic market. Some items are exclusively available as wild products while others are only available in their cultivated form. Many wild medicinals cannot be effectively cultivated but a fair number of herbs can be found in both cultivated and wild forms. Some of the herbs that we use are already threatened in the wild, so cultivated sources supply the market for such items.

According to the 2008 edition of the text Zhong Yao Shang Pin Xue (Chinese Medicinal Marketplace Products), about 150 herbs are primarily obtained from cultivated sources, with an average combined production of about 300,000-350,000 metric tons. Annually, the following herbs are grown in quantities over 10,000 metric tons: Di Huang (Rehmanniae Radix), Dang Gui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix), Shan Yao (Dioscoreae Rhizoma), Fu Ling (Poria), Dang Shen (Codonopsis Radix), Gan Jiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma), and Yi Yi Ren (Coicis Semen). Other items, such as Huang Qi (Astragali Radix), Gui Zhi (Cinnamomi Ramulus), Bai Shao (Paeoniae Radix Alba), Bai Zhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma), and Jin Yin Hua (Lonicerae Flos) are grown in quantities of 5000-10,000 metric tons per year. Sometimes a single region produces the entire supply (for example, all ginseng comes from the Northeast), and some production regions have counties or cities that are nearly entirely dedicated to growing a single herb.

Herbs are grown in a variety of different production regions, and the phrase “dao di yao cai” (authentic location medicinals) refers to herbs that are grown in the region that is thought to be their original or ideal production area. Herbs can thus be grouped into categories of production regions (Manchuria, Tibet, Sichuan, Canton, Yunnan, etc). Merchants bring products from the production regions to the large regional wholesale markets. The largest of these markets, located in Anhui province in the town of Bozhou, is home to 1.3 million people and covers 2,226 square kilometers. Over 6000 tons of herbs arrive every day, and 50,000-60,000 daily visitors come to shop. There are over 6000 merchants and annual trade is estimated to reach 10 billion Yuan at this one market alone.

Examples of herbs that are almost exclusively cultivated include:

Dang Gui- Gansu province is the principle growing region of Dang Gui, producing over 90% of the Chinese domestic supply. The importance of Dang Gui over the history of Chinese medicine is summed up in the phrase “10 formulas, 9 angelicas.” It is estimated that the annual consumption of Dang Gui is about 12 million kilograms.

Ren Shen- With the exception of ginseng grown in Japan, Korea or Russia, Asian ginseng is exclusively produced in China’s three Northeastern provinces, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning. Jilin produces about 70% of the total. Ginseng has been cultivated for over 400 years, and the total amount that is consumed annually is estimated at 6-7 million kilograms.

Bai Zhi- Bai Zhi is entirely cultivated, with Sichuan Bai Zhi accounting for about 70% of the total volume. The cultivation of Bai Zhi has been documented for over 600 years.

Huang Lian has also been cultivated for over 600 years, and virtually the entire supply is cultivated at present. About 1.5-1.8 million kilograms are used per year.

Dang Shen- Until the 1950s, nearly all the Dang Shen in use was wild. Now the wild populations are depleted and the cultivated product dominates the market. About 30 million kilograms per year are used.

Rehmannia has been cultivated for over 1000 years, and all the product on the market comes from cultivated sources. About 20 million kilos per year are used.

All Bai Shao is cultivated and all Chi Shao is wild-harvested. The plant Paeonia lactiflora produces both Bai Shao and Chi Shao. When it is cultivated and subjected to Pao Zhi (boiling and peeling the skin) it is Bai Shao, when it is wild and the skin is left intact it is Chi Shao. Bai Shao only comes from cultivated P. lactiflora, but Chi Shao can come from wild P. lactiflora or P. veitchii. P. veitchii is difficult to cultivate and is only prevalent in the wild.

Just for fun: Chan Su production peaked in the 1980s at over 15 metric tons, but by 1996 the annual production fell to less than 3 metric tons.