Mugou Honeysuckle

Mugou Honeysuckle

　　 Honeysuckle is a traditional Chinese herb approved by the National Health Commission of China for both medicinal and edible use. It is now recognized as one of the key medicinal herbs prioritized for national development. It holds high medicinal value and is hailed as the “herbal antibiotic” or “green antibiotic.” Amid the modern global trend toward green, healthy, and fashionable lifestyles, honeysuckle has gained widespread popularity. According to statistics, one-third of all traditional Chinese patent medicines in the country contain honeysuckle. Currently, honeysuckle is used not only in pharmaceuticals and health products but also increasingly in food, beverages, cosmetics, daily hygiene products, and other fields.

Honeysuckle is an eco-friendly and economically valuable plant that combines medicinal use, food use, land restoration, afforestation, landscaping, and ornamental gardening. First, it delivers high planting benefits. After planting one-year-old seedlings, they will bloom in the second year, yielding over 200 kilograms of dried flowers per mu, with a production value exceeding 4,000 yuan. Second, the cutting propagation method yields significant benefits. Third, it offers substantial medicinal and edible value. Both the flower buds and stems/leaves of honeysuckle can be used medicinally; this year, the market price for honeysuckle in Anguo’s medicinal material market is around 25 yuan per kilogram. Fourth, it provides notable ecological benefits and is an emerging star in landscaping. It is cold-resistant, drought-tolerant, flood-resistant, heat-tolerant, salt-alkali-resistant, and adaptable to poor soils. Moreover, it excels in soil conservation, water retention, wind prevention, and sand fixation, making it highly suitable for returning farmland to forests in western regions as well as urban landscaping.

Honeysuckle possesses strong vitality and exceptional resistance to adverse conditions. In 2002, the variety was successfully grown in Turpan, Xinjiang — known as the “extreme in drought, heat, and aridity” — which proves this point. Currently, honeysuckle has been tested and thrives in various environments including mountainous areas, plains, clayey soils, sandy soils, slightly acidic and mildly alkaline regions. Therefore, it is suitable for cultivation across all regions of the country, including naturally in Mugou County. The key lies in how it is managed.

Yongfu Town has over 1,000 acres of organic honeysuckle, expected to bloom next year (with a small portion having bloomed this year), but these plants were only planted last year and currently lack proper guidance and management. Expansion work is currently underway to develop a 2,000-acre honeysuckle base.