Medicinal Plants as Specialty Crops for Midwest Growers

Each year, approximately $150 billion of plant based medicine, herbal products, and food supplements are sold over the world, including approximately $50 billion of herbs and herbal products sold and consumed in China alone. There is an increased need for high quality herbal products. We have been working on testing about 40 species of most commonly used medicinal plants for Midwest growers as specialty crops. After five years of garden trial, a list of 25 species of highly demanded medicinal plants have shown great potential for the Midwest growers. Most of the 25 species are for medicine and functional food (tonic food). We have initiated a medicinal plant network for growing, harvesting, and marketing. Participants of this network include growers, alternative medicine clinics, stores,  etc. The goal is to locally grow and consume high quality herb.