What Are the Profits of Mugwort Cultivation Really Like?

Mugwort is a common plant. Among the people, there is the custom of eating mugwort rice cakes on the third day of the third month, hanging mugwort leaves at the door and taking mugwort leaf baths on the fifth day of the fifth month, and there is even the saying that with three-year-old mugwort at home, the doctor need not come. So what are the profits of cultivating mugwort like?

Mugwort has a long history in our country. As early as the era of the Classic of Poetry, mugwort was already a very important plant for people's livelihood. Mugwort has high value in medicinal use. Medical texts through the ages record it as “an essential medicine for stopping bleeding”, and it is also one of the commonly used gynecological medicines. It is especially effective in treating gynecological disorders of the deficiency-cold type. It can also treat chronic bronchitis and asthma in the elderly. When boiled in water for bathing, it can prevent and treat maternal and infant infections during the puerperium, or it can be made into medicinal pillows and medicinal vests to prevent and treat chronic bronchitis or asthma in the elderly as well as deficiency-cold stomach pain, etc.

Mugwort cultivation is relatively simple and does not require consuming too much energy or physical strength. Generally, the rhizomes begin to sprout in early March each year, and by late April the first harvest can be taken, with a yield of about 100 kg per mu, and four to five harvests can be taken each year. After each harvest, a certain amount of fertilizer must be applied to ensure the nutrition of the rhizomes. The fertilizer is mainly decomposed human and livestock manure, supplemented with phosphate and potassium fertilizers, while keeping the soil moist.

The wholesale price of mugwort is about 6 yuan per jin, the market retail price is about 12 yuan per jin, the export price is about 50 yuan per jin, and the air-dried mugwort with stems is about 2 yuan per jin. If it is aged mugwort, then each year of aging adds 40-50% in aging costs (including management, labor, warehousing, etc.). If one mu of land is cultivated well, after excluding labor costs, and with a regular buyer purchasing it, the income per mu is about 4000 yuan.

Although the profits from cultivating mugwort are relatively large, there are also some risks. First, the investment is relatively large; contacting buyers and shipping costs are already a very huge investment. Second, the market prefers wild mugwort more, and the market for artificially cultivated mugwort is relatively small. Finally, the mugwort market is not stable. Because mugwort is highly seasonal, different types and different qualities have different prices as well.

Friends considering growing mugwort should not proceed blindly, and should still consider the local specific conditions before starting mugwort cultivation. If the industry is mature and there are stable mugwort sales channels and cultivation and processing techniques, then growing mugwort is still a good choice.