Optimizing the Production of Traditional Chinese Medicine Crops in the Northeastern US

Commodities

• Agronomic: other
• Additional Plants: herbs, other

Practices

• Crop Production: continuous cropping, cropping systems, no-till, other
• Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer, networking, workshop, other
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns
• Production Systems: organic agriculture
• Soil Management: soil quality/health
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems

This project will focus on the following objectives with the goal of expanding and disseminating knowledge about growing methods and economic viability of six distinct, economically important Chinese herbs: 

i) Determine the economic yield and potency of six commonly used Chinese herbs, schisandra (Schisandra chinensis), codonopsis (Codonopsis pilosula), red sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza), baikal skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis), houttuynia (Houttuynia cordata), and astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus), when grown in the Northeastern US 

ii) Identify management challenges for the six selected Chinese medicinal plants, including disease incidence and pest pressure

iii) Create an enterprise budget for each crop to evaluate the economic feasibility of growing Chinese herbs in the Northeast

iv) Quantify changes in soil health after three years for each crop grown in monoculture and following a perennial polyculture mix of three root crops: astragalus, red sage and baikal skullcap

v) Develop six educational videos (one for each crop) for new and existing farmers that will address all aspects of production 

To address these objectives, we will use a two-pronged approach: an on-farm research project and a robust outreach strategy that involves interviewing 10+ farmers on Chinese herb production and producing high-quality videos for each crop. In addition, we will host two educational on-farm workshops and present at five conferences with the aim of contributing to a growing body of knowledge on the subject of Chinese Medicinal plant production and putting the Northeast on the map as a zone of interest, benefiting farmers and their communities.

This project will focus on the following five objectives with the goal of expanding and disseminating knowledge of the growing methods and economic viability of six distinct, economically important Chinese herbs: 

i) Determine the economic yield and potency of six commonly used Chinese herbs, schisandra (Schisandra chinensis), codonopsis (Codonopsis pilosula), red sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza), baikal skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis), houttuynia (Houttuynia cordata), and astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus), when grown in the Northeastern US 

ii) Identify management challenges for the six selected Chinese medicinal plants, including disease incidence and pest pressure

iii) Create an enterprise budget for each crop to evaluate the economic feasibility of growing Chinese herbs in the Northeast

iv) Quantify changes in soil health after three years for each crop grown in monoculture and following a perennial polyculture mix of three root crops: astragalus, red sage and baikal skullcap

v) Develop six educational videos (one for each crop) for new and existing farmers that will address all aspects of production