Ginseng Production

Overview
The sandy soil of the Norfolk plain where tobacco has thrived is perfect for cultivating Panax quinquefolius, or North American ginseng as it’s known to most of its buyers. Ontario is North America’s largest grower of ginseng, with more than 140 growers.

Production
Ginseng production has been increasing over the last 25 years, as the government’s support of tobacco has been declining. Ginseng is a capital-intensive crop, and a risky one, since there is no crop insurance, and no crop to harvest for the first three years.

Harvest
Ginseng root is harvested after three or four years: cleaned, dried and stored in barrels until it is sold. Harvesting has improved enormously with mechanical harvesters, allowing hand-sorting on the machines that are digging the roots. Much of the ginseng production process, however, is still people-intensive. At least 80 percent is sold to the Asian market overseas, where it is exported, processed and often shipped back as tea, pills and other products.

Global Marketplace
China, the largest market for Ontario’s North American ginseng, has been buying both root and seed, in order to build its own industry, hoping to replace ours eventually. That is a challenge the industry is preparing for through researching new uses in order to develop new markets.