Henan mushroom farmers rent riverbank forest land to develop under-forest shiitake mushroom economy
Recently, the bag-cultivated shiitake mushrooms developed by the Shunlin Edible Fungi Professional Cooperative in Lushi County, Henan Province, have been selling very well. It is understood that since last year, the cooperative has successively rented more than 700 mu of riverbank forest land in Zhang Village and Wang Village of Wenyu Township and Su Village of Fanli Town to grow shiitake mushrooms. This measure has not only developed the under-forest economy and increased the economic income of local people, but also greatly improved the local ecological environment; here, people can see a natural under-forest shiitake mushroom farm with their own eyes, and can also learn about this brand-new under-forest cultivation model of forest-fungi.
Lushi County, Henan Province, is a national-level forestry ecological demonstration county, with a forest coverage rate of 69.34%. Since 2015, the Lushi County Forestry Bureau has proactively adapted to the new normal of ecological civilization development, centering on serving the county's “ecology-based county” strategic development plan, closely focusing on the overall positioning of a “strong county with distinctive agriculture”, giving prominence to forestry industry development work, and cultivating and developing the under-forest economy industry according to local conditions. They have adopted the innovative development model of “professional cooperative organization + base + farmers”, providing support and actively coordinating in terms of funds, technology, seedlings, seeds, and information, encouraging forest farmers to develop under-forest planting and breeding industries, and exploring multiple development models such as “forest-fruit”, “forest-grass”, “forest-fungi”, “forest-medicine”, “forest-poultry”, and “forest-livestock”, building one “green bank” after another in forest areas, making the development of the under-forest economy industry an emerging green industry, forming a new pattern of three-dimensional forestry, circular forestry, and intensive forestry development, allowing forest farmers to joyfully share in the “ecological dividend”, enabling forest farmers to achieve the goal of “getting rich without cutting down trees”, achieving an annual output value of 1.15 billion yuan from the under-forest economy, and powerfully promoting the sustained, healthy, and rapid development of the county's economy and society.
The mushroom farmers of the Shunlin Edible Fungi Professional Cooperative in Lushi County, Henan Province, under the impetus of the new economic model, actively responded to the government's call to develop the under-forest economy industry, advanced with the times, achieved a combination of innovation and practice, and obtained remarkable economic benefits.