China News Service, Dingxi, Gansu, September 5 (Dai Wenchang) In the golden autumn season, the mountains and fields in Zhang County, Dingxi City, Gansu Province are filled with medicinal fragrance, and the epimedium plants are full of green. This "bitter" medicinal material that was once regarded as a "wild grass" has now been cultivated to enrich the people's "sweet" life. In 2025, the county's epimedium production and sales will reach 600 tons, and the output value of the entire industry chain will exceed 1.5 billion yuan, making it a well-known epimedium trading center in the country.
Zhang County is located in the transition zone where the West Qinling Mountains and the Loess Plateau meet. The grassland vegetation coverage reaches 78.44%, the forest coverage rate is 18.36%, and the understory space is abundant. It is said that Sun Simiao, the king of medicine, once collected medicines for medical treatment here, and detailed the epimedium grown in Zhangxian County in "Qian Jin Yifang". In June this year, Zhangxian Epimedium was selected into the national list of “one county, one product” of authentic medicinal materials.
Zhangxian County has a moderate altitude, distinct four seasons, mild climate and fertile soil, making it a natural growing area for epimedium. Wang Yawei, secretary of the Zhangxian County Party Committee, said on the 5th that in recent years, based on its resource endowment, the county has promoted the epimedium industry from scattered planting to large-scale operations, from extensive management to standardized production, from raw material export to full industry chain development, and established the development goal of "three years of small achievements, ten years of big industry", with a total investment of 175 million yuan.
Germplasm is the foundation of Tao Di. At present, Zhang County has built a wild epimedium germplasm gene bank, focusing on the three key technologies of wild germplasm domestication, seed breeding, and group culture seedlings. The annual seedling breeding scale has reached 40 million plants, and has cooperated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan The Botanical Garden has cooperated to build an epimedium demonstration base and a 200-acre wild domesticated germplasm resource nursery. The quality of domesticated and cultivated epimedium is better than the pharmacopoeia standard. The supply of seedlings has shifted from "relying on the sky to collect" to "controllable breeding and batch supply".
In recent years, Zhang County has formulated the "Technical Regulations for Artificial Domestication and Cultivation" and "Technical Regulations for Underforest Cultivation" to promote underforest protection, forest edge tending, field domestication and other models according to local conditions. It has built 17 demonstration planting bases with a total planting area of over 30,000 acres and an income of over 30,000 yuan per mu, achieving a win-win situation of ecological and economic benefits.
Good medicinal materials should be sold at a good price. According to Wang Yawei, Zhang County has developed epimedium health wine, ultra-fine powder capsules, tea and other series of products, and registered trademarks such as "Wuxianling" and "Yizhang" to promote the industry's leap from selling raw materials to selling products and brands. Currently, Zhang County annually exports 600 tons of Epimedium cordifolia, accounting for approximately 40% of national sales. The products are directly supplied to well-known domestic pharmaceutical companies.
If the industry is prosperous, it should also benefit the people. Zhang County has also improved the interest linkage mechanism between farmers and farmers, guiding farmers to be deeply involved in planting, processing, sales and other links, so that the value-added benefits of the industry can benefit farmers more. Epimedium has gradually become a popular industry that drives people to increase their income and become rich.
Zhao Runhuai, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that epimedium is a core raw material for a variety of Chinese patent medicines and health foods, and market demand continues to increase. The successful promotion of artificial planting technology has laid a good foundation for industrial development. The unique geographical location and climatic conditions of Zhangxian County provide unique natural conditions for the growth of epimedium.
On the 5th, the first Epimedium Industry Conference with the theme of "Global Epimedium Authentic in Zhangxian County" was held in Zhangxian County. This authentic medicinal herb from the mountains is becoming a "golden prescription" for enriching the people and strengthening the county.
