Assisting Farmers to Produce High Quality Medicinal Herbs

Many farmers are looking for new crops to grow in order to to diversify their farms and increase profitability.  Medicinal herbs are often of interest because they are generally perceived as being easy to grow, in high demand, return good prices, and serve as useful rotational crops. In reality, most farmers who have not previously grown medicinal herbs do not understand the global herb market, know how to find a buyer, or know which herbs to grow. They also are unfamiliar with how best to produce and process them, and are unaware of how the new U.S. Good Manufacturing Practices affect them.  North Carolina has long had the reputation for being a source of high-quality medicinal herbs, most of which have been wild-harvested from forests in the western part of the state.  In recent years, however, farmers have started cultivating medicinal herbs in the woods and in open fields.  They have expressed a need for more information on fertilization, plant populations, propagation, harvesting, drying, budgets, markets, and quality standards.  We have conducted a number of trials designed to answer some of these questions. For example, we’ve studied the propagation of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), the influence of soil pH and calcium on goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) and ramps (Allium tricoccum), and the effects of soil pH, fertility, and stage of plant growth on alkylamides in Echinacea purpurea. The issue is that there are hundreds of medicinal herbs in commerce and it is impossible for a small number of research programs to independently answer all the questions that are being asked. Developing a consortium of researchers around the world to coordinate efforts on how best to grow and process these herbs, and to create a database of information for farmers and agricultural advisors would be a great service for this industry.