Haenam-gun Opens New Path for Domestic Production of Milk Thistle to Improve Liver Function

Nation's First Large-Scale Cultivation Complex Established, Expected to Foster New Income Crops Replacing Imports

Sanim-myeon, Haenam-gun, the Nation's First Large-Scale Milk Thistle Cultivation Complex (Photo by Haenam-gun)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 18th that it has succeeded in mass cultivation of milk thistle, which is recognized for its excellent efficacy in improving liver function.

This year, the county established milk thistle cultivation sites over a total area of 26 hectares across 28 farms in Sanim-myeon and Masan-myeon, planning to harvest about 170 kg of milk thistle seeds.

With an expected high income of about 3 million KRW per 1,000㎡, it is anticipated that this will not only increase farm income but also serve as a new high-income crop replacing supply control crops such as barley, garlic, and onions.

Milk thistle, also called white-spotted thistle, is known to have excellent effects on improving liver function, detoxification, and fatigue recovery, as the silymarin component in its seeds protects the liver from toxins.

Although it is the only food ingredient recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as a health functional food raw material, most domestic products rely on imports from the United States, Europe, and other regions.

Although milk thistle was introduced domestically over 10 years ago, there was no established cultivation method. To develop it as a new income crop, since 2015 Haenam-gun has been conducting on-farm demonstration research projects jointly with the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, developing cultivation manuals including sowing, harvesting, and refining techniques, as well as conducting economic feasibility analyses.

Since last year, by succeeding in mass cultivation of milk thistle through on-farm pilot projects, a green light has been given for the localization of milk thistle, whose demand continues to increase.

A Haenam-gun official stated, “We will continuously expand the cultivation area of milk thistle, which has been recognized for its potential as a high-income crop,” and “actively pursue production of related processed products such as tea bags and powder through MOUs with processing companies.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.