Thursday, March 15, 2012

Ginseng diggers ready to harvest their crop, Most will be exported, primarily to China

Wild ginseng diggers are getting ready to trudge deep into thehills. If the crop is anything like last year's, more than $2 millionworth of the perennial herb is laying ready in the soil.

The cash crop grows in all 55 counties of West Virginia. Last yearnearly 4,800 pounds of ginseng were harvested.

Much of West Virginia's ginseng is exported, mostly to China, saidRichard Strickland, a forester for the West Virginia Division ofForestry. The root is popular in Asia and is often brewed in teas tocure digestive ailments, headaches or act as an aphrodisiac.

Strickland said the root grows best east of the Mississippi andparticularly well in a region like the …

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