According to the results of a pilot project, the new method allows for the removal of crop protection residues without affecting the structure and quality of the ginseng.

“Crop protection residues have been one of the main trade barrier issues for Ontario ginseng,” says Doug Bradley, a ginseng grower and president of the Ontario Ginseng Growers’ Association. “With the growing market for ginseng, we wanted to find a way to extract those residues without impacting our end product.”

Ontario’s ginseng crop is grown in the fertile soils of the province’s former tobacco belt, where DDT was once used in tobacco production. Trace residues of the long-discontinued product can be detected in the ginseng root and existing extraction processes, while successful, alter the structure and quality of the ginseng. This means lower prices and fewer markets for Ontario’s ginseng farmers.

A grant of $29,292 from the Ontario Research and Development (ORD) program, administered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC), helped fund efforts by the Ontario Ginseng Growers’ Association to evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of this new extraction process through a project lead jointly by researchers at the University of Ottawa and Loyalist College in Belleville.

“Ontario ginseng is a world leader in quality due to our unique soil and climate,” says Jim Rickard, AAC chair. “We are pleased to be able to provide funding these kinds of innovative projects that will help advance the competitiveness of Ontario’s agricultural producers.”

The ORD program is a $2.5 million, two-year initiative established in January 2008 by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The goal of the program is to promote the long-term viability and competitiveness of Ontario agriculture by investing in research and development projects.