Experience of and use of compassion (Codonopsis javanica (Blume) Hook.F & Thoms) of ethnic Minority Communities in Van Ho District, Son La Province

Abstract

This study was conducted with the aim of summarizing and evaluating the experiences of ethnic minority communities in the process of exploiting and using Codonopsis javanica (Blume) Hook.F & Thoms in Van Ho district, Son La province. The research method community interview is applied, the interviewees are those who directly use, exploit, trade and the village heads, healers, mothers, interviewed 80 households in total. The data processing method calculates the percentage based on the answer sheet and notebook. The results show that, 100% of the surveyed households know, can recognize and use C. javanica. This is a fairly popular product locally, but now the quantity is not much. The community clearly describes the growing place, morphology, season, knows how to use the product for health care and trade; 100% harvesting activities are carried out from the wild, breeding activities have not been carried out, only 6.25% of households have tried sowing seeds and only 2.5% of households have tried to plant some C. javanica around the house; 87.5% of mining households are to sell for income; 86.25% of interviewed households want to learn more experience in propagation and planting but only 75% of them are willing to plant if the output market is stable. Experience in commercializing the product is not available, the community only brings the harvested products to the local market or shops to resell. The results from this study show that the local community has a good source of knowledge about C. javanica, but it has not been exploited and applied to conservation and sustainable development of the species. Therefore, this is an issue that needs attention and support, combining both local and technical knowledge, both in terms of the output market so that C. javanica becomes a strength in supporting household economic stability.