Growing button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) in winter-fallow rice fields delivers good returns

In 2004, our county carried out cultivation demonstrations of growing button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) in winter-fallow rice fields across 16 townships. After the late rice harvest, rice straw and other materials were used as the main raw materials and composted and fermented into growing substrate, making use of the winter temperature and light resources and the idle winter season of the rice fields; open-field cultivation of button mushrooms achieved notable returns.

Chen Yeru, a farmer at the Lixian Institute of Agricultural Sciences, is a button mushroom cultivation demonstration household, with a family of 4 people and 2 laborers, and had never previously cultivated edible fungi. After technical training at the Lixian Edible Fungi Research Institute, he set up a button mushroom demonstration site on his own contracted field (site area 67 sq m, actual mushroom planting area 45 sq m). On September 5, 2004, he began fermenting rice straw to make growing substrate, spread the substrate and sowed on October 2, began harvesting mushrooms on November 3, and by December 4 had harvested 202.5 kg. During that period, the highest single-day harvest reached 15 kg. From December 5, 2004 to March 4, 2005, he harvested 50 kg. At this point @#@136@#@ income had already reached 1060 yuan (the local market fresh-sale price of button mushrooms was 3.6 yuan to 5.0 yuan per kg). From March 5 to April 30, 2005, he harvested 166.5 kg, with sales revenue of 632 yuan. Total sales revenue reached 1692 yuan. After deducting direct production costs of 460 yuan (60 yuan for disinfection and sterilization agents, 300 yuan for growing substrate, 100 yuan for spawn), the net income was 1232 yuan.

Growing button mushrooms in winter-fallow rice fields has four major advantages: First, it uses resources and reduces pollution. After the rice harvest, using dry rice straw to compost and ferment growing substrate and cultivating it in open fields in the rice fields both makes use of temperature and light resources and idle rice fields, and effectively avoids the environmental pollution caused by burning rice straw. Second, it improves the soil. The spent substrate left after using rice straw to grow button mushrooms is an excellent organic fertilizer, which can increase the organic matter content of rice field soil and improve rice field soil structure. Third, it requires little input, gives high output, and delivers good returns. The nutrients needed for button mushroom growth come from rice straw, cow dung, compound fertilizer and so on. Through trial demonstrations, the input-to-output ratio is about 1:3, and generally each 667 sq m of mushroom field (actual cultivation area of about 400 sq m) can yield a net profit of about 5000 yuan. Its products are in short supply, and the development prospects are broad. At present, the fresh button mushroom price in the domestic market is 2.0 yuan to 2.4 yuan per kg (purchase price in Dayi County, Sichuan Province), and the fresh mushroom price in the local market is 3.6 yuan to 5.0 yuan per kg (wholesale price in the Lixian market). Fourth, the operation is relatively simple and does not require much labor. The field management operations for growing button mushrooms in winter-fallow rice fields are also relatively simple, mainly timely supplemental watering, additional fertilization, covering with straw curtains, and so on, and these are basically carried out during the agricultural slack season.

Through setting up demonstration sites and leading the way with typical examples, we aroused strong interest among surrounding farmers and inspired their great enthusiasm for planting. According to preliminary statistics, in 2005 the cultivation area of button mushrooms grown in winter-fallow rice fields across the county can reach 330,000 sq m