Straw Grows Small Mushrooms: A New Technology for Circular Agriculture

In the rice-producing areas of the south, the technology of rapid straw decomposition and return to the field is promoted; in the dry-farming agricultural areas of the north, the technology of straw bio-reaction carbon fertilizer utilization is the focus of promotion; in the key corn and @#@245@#@ producing areas, the technologies of straw crushing and return to the field and straw silage for feed are promoted; the technologies of straw forming, solidification and gasification for fuel have achieved a fundamental shift from "storing grain in granaries" to "storing grain in the land."

In Nannihe Village, Zhaoxian County, the village is not large, but it has already developed more than 200 button mushroom sheds. Each mushroom shed can convert and utilize the straw produced from 20 mu of land and more than 3,000 kg of dry livestock and poultry manure, producing more than 2,000 kg of fresh mushrooms, creating an output value of nearly 10,000 yuan.

Hebei's annual crop straw output is about 40 million tons, and livestock and poultry manure and agricultural product processing waste are increasing year by year. How to convert and utilize agricultural by-products has become a key issue in protecting the ecological environment and implementing sustainable agricultural development. A "new technology for cultivating edible fungi with corn straw" and a project on the "application of crop straw cultivation technology for edible fungi" implemented in more than 50 counties and cities across the province have enabled waste resources to be used efficiently. Starting with button mushrooms, Hebei's varieties cultivated with straw waste have now developed to nearly 10 varieties, including fragrant oyster mushrooms, bulk mushrooms and straw mushrooms, annually converting and utilizing the straw produced from 4.2 million mu of land, digesting and utilizing 1.6 million tons of dry livestock and poultry manure, and producing 2 million cubic meters of organic fertilizer.

Wang Shunxiang of Gaozhuang Village, Chengguan Town, Feixiang County, built 4 mushroom sheds, each half a mu in size. From October to February of the following year, he cultivates oyster mushrooms or jiji mushrooms (Pleurotus cornucopiae). Each mushroom shed converts and utilizes about 6,000 kg of corn cobs, cotton stalks and cottonseed hulls, with a total output of about 30 tons of fresh mushrooms and a net income of about 30,000 yuan. From March to June, he uses the spent mushroom substrate from the previous cycle mixed with 40% new material to cultivate shaggy mane mushrooms (Coprinus comatus), with a total output of about 18 tons of fresh mushrooms and a net income of about 25,000 yuan. From July to September, he uses the spent mushroom substrate from cultivating shaggy mane mushrooms mixed with whole corn cobs to cultivate straw mushrooms, adding about 20,000 kg of new material, with a total output of about 12 tons of fresh mushrooms and a net income of about 30,000 yuan. His annual total income is more than 50,000 yuan higher than in the past, when the raw material was used only once and each mushroom shed was cultivated for only one period per year. Wang Shunxiang said happily: "The technology of cyclical utilization of substrate for year-round mushroom shed production not only lowers production costs and extends the use time of the mushroom shed, but also purifies the environment and increases income. It really kills several birds with one stone."

According to reports, the spent mushroom substrate after mushroom harvesting can not only be processed into feed and activated carbon, but can also be used to cultivate other varieties of edible fungi and make organic fertilizer. At present, Hebei Province's circular economy system centered on the edible fungi industry has begun to take shape. Ruida Beef Cattle Co., Ltd. in Pingquan County uses spent mushroom substrate from shiitake and nameko mushrooms as feed to feed cattle, which not only saves 30% of grain feed, but also improves the immunity of the livestock and shortens the effective fattening period. Using spent mushroom substrate from shiitake and nameko mushrooms to process activated carbon not only solves the need for low-cost, high-quality alternative raw materials for more than 10 local processing enterprises, but also achieves excellent economic, ecological and social benefits.