Farmer takes herbal remedy

The Chinese herbal remedy ginseng could be turned into an export crop generating annual sales of more than $300 million if the plans of a Bay of Plenty horticulturist and Auckland investor reach fruition.

Former kiwifruit grower Brian Sage and Doug Somers-Edgar of investment advisers Money Managers have planted 60 million seeds over the past two years and a further 50 million are under treatment for planting this year.

Ginseng roots - which have been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years - command high prices in Asia.

In 2001 a single root - thought to be more than 100 years old - sold in Korea for $81,000.

Somers-Edgar says the Ginseng NZ venture could ultimately capture 4 to 5 per cent of the world market, which is estimated at about $8 billion.

They plan to grow organic ginseng and target the premium end of the market.

Heavy use of manure and commercial fertilisers makes the cultivated ginseng grow less like the wild version and can reduce its value.

Ginseng NZ also plans to wait until its crop is several years old before harvesting. In Asian medicine ginseng root is considered more valuable the older it is.

"If we go out there with seven-year-old organically grown New Zealand ginseng we don't expect there will be any competition from any similar product," Somers-Edgar says.

As the plant needs to be protected from the sun, Ginseng NZ has built 257 kilometres of shadehouses and is installing more at a rate of four kilometres a week. It was Sage who had the idea to develop ginseng as an export crop, Somers-Edgar says.

He had been growing kiwifruit for many years but was fed up with the way New Zealand let its commercial advantage in that fruit be eroded by cheaper competitors such as Chile.

He looked at a range of new crops that had potential for New Zealand, including spirulina and wasabi. After settling on ginseng, Sage and his team, including horticulturists from Crop and Food Research, spent several years perfecting the growing of the crop.

They developed techniques for growing it organically because they felt that was going to be New Zealand's competitive advantage.

Thus far there has not been a commercial ginseng industry in New Zealand. There are a handful of hobby farmers who have generally struggled to grow it successfully, Somers-Edgar said. "It's a difficult bugger of a thing to grow. You've got to get it from Northern Hemisphere time to Southern Hemisphere and it gets soil borne diseases so the soil has to be treated before planting."

There are about 300 commercial growers in Australia but most of the world's crop is grown in the US and South Korea.

There are about 22 active chemicals in the root which are known as ginsenosides.

Somers-Edgar says testing has confirmed the New Zealand crop at three and four years old has greater concentrations of ginsenosides than Australian, Korean and US varieties.

In the last decade ginseng has become increasing popular in Western countries where it is used as an ingredient in herbal supplements.

Australia uses 300 tonnes of imported ginseng a year in pills and capsules.

Somers-Edgar said he hoped little or none of the New Zealand crop would end up in processed products. "We want to be at the top end supplying fresh product to Asian markets."

Medical history

* Ginseng has been used as a medicine in Asia for thousands of years.

* Its proponents claim it can be beneficial in treating everything from cancer and diabetes to ageing, sexual dysfunction and high blood pressure.

* Its effectiveness as a medicine has never been scientifically confirmed but it is acknowledged as a stimulant.