The phenomenon of "picking green" of traditional Chinese medicine in mountainous area is worrying.

A few days ago, the author learned in an interview that due to the continuous rise in the purchase price of Forsythia suspensa, many villagers in the remote mountainous areas of Huguan County, Shanxi Province scrambled to pick the immature Forsythia suspensa, resulting in serious waste and destruction of wild medicinal resources.

It is understood that since late June this year, less than the Summer Solstice, in several remote mountain villages and towns in Huguan County, such as Shipo, Shupang, Goose House, Dongjingling, and so on, some villagers began to pick Forsythia suspensa, and some vendors also came to the village early to purchase medicinal materials. The starting price of Forsythia suspensa is more than 10 yuan per kilogram, which is twice as high as that of the same period last year. Due to the high starting price, many farmers, young and old, took part in the battle, carrying dry food, coming out early and coming home late, with a high daily income, but many branches of yellow flowers were broken when they were picked, and the hillside was a mess. In fact, at this time last year, the local media called for a ban on the phenomenon of "green harvesting" of wild Chinese herbal medicines, but due to interest-driven, coupled with the lack of supervision by the relevant departments, the phenomenon of indiscriminate mining of Chinese herbal medicines was rampant.

According to experts, the formation and accumulation of effective components of medicinal materials are not only affected by genetic factors and environmental conditions, but also affected by harvesting, processing, drying methods, storage and processing, in which harvesting is a very important link. It is difficult to meet the standards stipulated in the National Pharmacopoeia to "collect green" wild medicinal materials in advance, and it is difficult to ensure the clinical curative effect, at the same time, it also results in a waste of wild medicinal resources. It is reported that in some remote mountainous areas of Huguan and Pingshun, Chinese herbal medicines such as Schisandra chinensis and gallnut have already begun to "pick green".

To this end, the relevant departments should increase the publicity of the regulations on the Protection of Wild Medicinal Resources, so that the whole society can consciously take action to protect wild medicinal resources. At the same time, the purchasing department of medicinal materials should strictly control the quality, stop purchasing substandard medicinal materials of "picking green", and control them from the source. The relevant departments should also step up inspection and severely punish the picking and destruction of hillside trees in accordance with the law.