Longde Chinese Herbal Medicines

Longde Chinese Herbal Medicines

　　Longde County is located in the Liupan Mountain area in the southern part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It borders Qingyang City and Pingliang City of Gansu Province to the east, connects with Pingliang City to the south, shares a boundary with Baiyin City to the west, and adjoins Zhongwei City and Wuzhong City of Ningxia to the north. The total area is 14,422.1 square kilometers.

　　The Liupan Mountain area is situated in the transition zone between the moist forest-steppe of the warm temperate zone in Eurasia, the arid semi-arid steppe, and the arid desert steppe. It features a diverse climate and a broad ecological suitability range, making it suitable for cultivating a wide variety of Chinese herbal medicines. It is one of the major Chinese herbal medicine production areas in northwest China. Over 420 types of medicinal plants listed in the "National Chinese Herbal Medicine Compendium" are found here, including local specialties such as Fritillaria panthaica and Paris polyphylla var. stenophylla. Authentic medicinal materials like Astragalus, Bupleurum, Gentiana macrophylla, and Pinellia ternata are renowned nationwide for their high content of active ingredients and superior quality.

　　 The Liupan Mountain area is far from industrial pollution sources, providing natural conditions for creating a “green” brand. The per capita arable land area is relatively abundant, and large areas of dryland farming and returned farmland to forest offer resource potential for developing Chinese herbal medicine cultivation. A significant surplus of rural labor ensures the labor-intensive needs of the planting and preliminary processing stages of herbal medicine production.

　　By 2010, the plan was to establish a 600,000-mu Chinese herbal medicine resource restoration zone, a 600,000-mu agroforestry intercropping base, a 150,000-mu standardized planting base, and a 10,000-mu seed and seedling base in the Liupan Mountain area. A comprehensive service system integrating storage, transportation, and services would be developed, aiming to build a “Western China Medicine Valley.” The government has formulated policies and measures to support the development of the Chinese herbal medicine industry, striving to establish a “company + farmer” production mechanism, actively supporting the construction of herbal medicine planting bases, and vigorously promoting the growth of the herbal medicine industry.