Shiitake mushroom cultivation boosts farmers' income and prosperity

Web news: (Reporter Ge Yang) Yesterday, under the guidance of village officials, following the winding mountain road, the reporter set off for Niandao Village, Guanpo Town, Lushi County, to begin a stay-in-village interview.

From 7 o'clock to around 11 o'clock, a journey of more than 4 hours, the reporter fully felt the "remoteness" of Niandao Village. Although panting and drenched in sweat, the reporter gained a great deal.

Upon arriving at Niandao Village, the reporter noticed this village has its own characteristics: at the roadside by the village entrance, there was not a single patch of idle land, all covered with shiitake mushroom cultivation sheds of varying heights and sizes. The roar of machines came from the cultivation sheds, where villagers were busy punching holes in the shiitake mushroom spawn bags for ventilation.

"Growing shiitake mushrooms doesn't necessarily work." Villager Xie Defang had once grown shiitake mushrooms, but half of his crop went bad, he lost all his capital, and he simply stopped growing them.

After study by the two committees of Niandao Village and the resident poverty alleviation officials, it was decided that shiitake mushrooms still had to be grown, but scientifically. After their research, they found that some areas of Lushi County have dense trees, cool summer weather, and large temperature differences between day and night, and the climate and resource advantages are very suitable for off-season shiitake mushroom production.

"Old Xie is honest and hardworking, but it was precisely because he didn't understand the technology that he lost his capital and fell into poverty," said Mo Yinpo, director of the Niandao Village Committee. "So now we are teaching him how to grow shiitake mushrooms hand by hand."

This year, Old Xie's family built a total of 3 sheds and cultivated 12,000 bags of shiitake mushrooms. Through technical assistance, the rate of spoiled bags in Old Xie's family's shiitake mushrooms dropped to below 2%. At the current market rate, one bag of shiitake mushrooms yields a net profit of three to four yuan, and Old Xie's family can earn more than 40,000 yuan a year. "Growing shiitake mushrooms well turns out to be so profitable, earning even more than going out to work. Now the child's tuition is covered!" Calculating the income, Old Xie said happily.

"I never expected that growing shiitake mushrooms could lift me out of poverty and make me prosperous." Villager Yang Chengzhang, who was picking shiitake mushrooms in the greenhouse of the village's edible fungi cultivation farmers' professional cooperative, said with a smile. Yang Chengzhang is a poverty-alleviated household in Niandao Village, and for nearly a year he has been cultivating at the edible fungi cooperative right at his doorstep.

"We give priority to hiring poor households as pickers. In addition, we will invest in building more shiitake mushroom sheds and contract the sheds to poor households in surrounding villages, and after there is a harvest, distribute dividends to everyone." Cooperative chairman Yang Tianhu pointed to the shed under construction and said, "The dividends for poor households have never been missed for a single year."

Shiitake mushrooms were grown well, an industry was cultivated, and wealth "grew." It is understood that the poor households of Niandao Village rely on small shiitake mushrooms to shoulder the burden of prosperity and are gradually driving onto the fast lane of happiness.