Foping Gastrodia elata

Foping Gastrodia elata

　　Foping Gastrodia elata is a specialty of Foping County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province. Due to its high quality and excellent variety, it is highly sought after by out-of-town merchants.

　　Gastrodia elata is a traditional and valuable Chinese medicinal herb with a medicinal history of more than 2,000 years, and its artificial cultivation techniques are well established. It has multiple effects including benefiting qi, calming wheezing, nourishing the liver, relieving dizziness, dispelling rheumatism, and strengthening muscles and bones. It is mainly used to treat conditions such as rheumatism, back pain, facial and eye deviation, limb spasms, numbness in limbs, dizziness and headaches, and infantile convulsions. In addition, Gastrodia elata extract injections can help dilate blood vessels and enhance vascular elasticity. Gastrodia elata has a wide range of uses—it can be used not only for medicinal purposes but also consumed as a beverage, among other applications.

　　Shidunhe Town in Foping County is located at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains. The area is rich in natural forest resources, with the highest elevation at 1,646 meters and the lowest at 605 meters. The climate is humid, making it a natural suitable habitat for the precious medicinal herb Gastrodia elata. For many years, Shidunhe Town has adhered to an industrial development strategy of “being practical and adapting to local conditions.” Leveraging early development in Gastrodia elata cultivation, strong technical skills among local farmers, robust self-breeding capabilities for seeds and spawn, large-scale cultivation areas, and smooth sales channels, the town has built upon the strong support of the Foping County Zhaocai Gastrodia elata Cooperative and demonstration base construction. It has improved the industrial chain for Gastrodia elata development and focused on cultivating and expanding Gastrodia elata planting as a pillar industry. Shidunhe Town is honored as the “Hometown of Gastrodia elata.”