MUMBAI: American reality television series ‘Appalachian Outlaws’ premieres on History TV18, 5 September onwards, every Sat-Sun at 11pm. The show draws attention to the trade revolving around ginseng, a scarce yet valuable herb native to the Appalachian Mountains. With global demand skyrocketing, dealers are eager to get in on the game, and with prices hovering around $1,000 per pound, diggers are in a frenzy to harvest the mountain gold. Some even believe its gnarled roots have special healing powers.

Sweeping some 1,500 miles from New York to Georgia, the Appalachian Mountains are a historic time capsule - a place where a way of life built around hunting, trapping and trading hasn't changed since the early 1700's. Furs, ginseng and moonshine still provide the basis of the economy as they did from earliest frontier days. These mountains have just the right elevation, rainfall and mineral-rich soil to produce the best wild ginseng in the world. But now, a war is brewing over this valuable commodity. Whoever controls the ginseng, controls the mountains.

To prevent over-harvesting in the U.S., a few states have started regulating where it’s legal to pull ginseng, which has made territorial lines even blurrier than before.The plot of this epic new series, set in a land which is famous for its feuds, follows five to eight clans fighting to claim their share of mountain riches during one of the most important seasons of their year: "the fat months" of late summer through harvest time.