The pharma farmers: Chinese medicinal herbs provide niche market for US growers

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Rebekah Rice (left) and Jean Giblette examine seedlings of trees used in Chinese herbal medicine, after Giblette brought them to Rice’s greenhouse for the winter in Delmar,New York. Rice, an organic farmer, is participating in a project launched by Giblette to foster medicinal herbs as a profitable niche crop for small farmers. Photo: AP

Published: 9:45am, 28 Dec 2015Updated: 12:46pm, 28 Dec 2015

Expanding interest in traditional Chinese medicine in the United States is fostering a potentially lucrative new niche market for farmers who plant the varieties of herbs, flowers and trees sought by practitioners.

While almost all practitioners still rely on imports from China, dwindling wild stands there, as well as quality and safety concerns, could drive up demand for herbs grown in the US. Several states have set up “growing groups” to help farmers establish trial stands of the most popular plants.

“As a farmer, I love the idea of growing something no one else is growing, something that's good for people,” said Rebekah Rice of Delmar, near Albany, who is among 30 members of a New York growing group. “This project is seriously fascinating.”

If growers in the US can produce a highest-quality product that is identical to species from China, without contamination from heavy metals or pesticides, I think it's a great opportunity

Jamie Starkey, TCM practitioner at the Cleveland Clinic

Jean Giblette, a researcher who has established New York’s group, said it could also be a moneymaker. She estimates the market for domestically grown medicinal plants to be US$200 million to US$300 million a year.

Traditional Chinese medicine is gaining mainstream acceptance in the US. There are 30,000 licensed practitioners across the country — 46 states issue licenses, often requiring a master’s degree and continuing education credits. In 2014, the Cleveland Clinic opened one of the first hospital-based Chinese herbal therapy clinics in the country.

Medicinal herbs and ingredients for sale at the Caizhuanyue Market in Yulin, Guangxi. Photo: AFP

Jamie Starkey, a licensed practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s Centre for Integrative Medicine, said quality, authenticity and purity are important concerns with herbal products.

“If growers in the US can produce a highest-quality product that is identical to species from China, without contamination from heavy metals or pesticides, I think it's a great opportunity for farmers,” Starkey said.