Mushroom base drives villagers to prosperity, a migrant worker returns home to start a business

Villagers from Zhangtun Village work in Sun Chengyuan's shiitake mushroom greenhouses. Text by our reporter Ma Zheng, photos provided by the interviewee

In November 2016, Sun Chengyuan, who had worked away from home for many years, returned to his hometown - XingTai Subdistrict, Pulandian District. Before he had even settled in, Sun Chengyuan built shiitake mushroom greenhouses in Zhangtun Village beside the Pishuang Highway. Now, a year and a half later, Sun Chengyuan has built 35 shiitake mushroom greenhouses in Zhangtun Village, covering 50 mu, making it the largest shiitake mushroom production base in Pulandian District, and giving nearly a hundred low-income households in the area more than 2,000 yuan in extra income each month.

Eating in the south "sparked" the idea of growing shiitake mushrooms in Dalian

Sun Chengyuan, now 40, left his hometown in his twenties. "At first I worked away from home, then gradually went into the clothing business, running to the south all year round. I was really a layman when it came to shiitake mushroom cultivation." Sun Chengyuan said his idea of growing shiitake mushrooms came about during his repeated trips south to buy goods. "Every time I went to the south, as long as my friends treated me to a meal, edible fungi were indispensable on the table. Over time, I also noticed that southerners really cannot do without edible fungi at meals." It was this discovery that made Sun Chengyuan feel the edible fungi market had great potential.

After having this idea, Sun Chengyuan gradually shifted his attention to edible fungi cultivation. To this end, he inspected markets everywhere and set his sights on shiitake mushrooms. "I found that, looking across the country, shiitake mushrooms can be divided into winter mushrooms and summer mushrooms. Winter mushrooms are mainly produced south of Henan; affected by the high temperatures in the south, they mainly fruit in winter, while summer mushrooms are concentrated north of Hebei, with fruiting concentrated in summer. However, in terms of cultivation volume, winter mushrooms far exceed summer mushrooms, which shows there is still a big gap in the summer mushroom market. And Dalian's climate is very suitable for growing summer mushrooms." Sun Chengyuan told the reporter that growing shiitake mushrooms in Dalian can catch two peak prices. "One is in May, when the temperature in the south is too high and no longer suitable for fruiting, while north of Dalian the temperature is still relatively low, which is likewise unfavorable for shiitake mushroom growth. Things are precious when they are rare, so shiitake mushroom prices naturally rise. For the same reason, every July shiitake mushrooms in Dalian can also sell at a high price."

Returning home to build an agricultural professional cooperative, its shiitake mushrooms are sold to Hong Kong, China and Macao, China

So Dalian is such a big place - where should the shiitake mushroom greenhouses be built? Zhuanghe is the main production area for mushroom cultivation in Dalian, but after much consideration, Sun Chengyuan still returned to his hometown of XingTai Subdistrict and built his shiitake mushroom greenhouses in Zhangtun Village. "First, the temperature and humidity are suitable for shiitake mushroom cultivation; second, after all these years I had not done anything for my hometown, and I also wanted to use shiitake mushroom cultivation to give the folks one more way to earn money." Sun Chengyuan said.

After market research, technical study and fundraising, in November 2016 Sun Chengyuan returned to his hometown, registered the Dalian Shuangshengyuan Agricultural Professional Cooperative, invested in building 35 shiitake mushroom greenhouses in Zhangtun Village, and hired nearly a hundred low-income villagers from the area to work in the shiitake mushroom greenhouses. "Some of the folks who come to work in the greenhouses come every day, and their wages are more than 3,000 yuan; others still have land at home and come when they have time, and they can also earn more than 2,000 yuan a month." Sun Chengyuan said.

In 2017, Sun Chengyuan's shiitake mushroom greenhouses began to produce mushrooms. In all of 2017, Sun Chengyuan's total shiitake mushroom output was nearly 150,000 kg, and they were graded into several classes according to appearance, among which first-grade mushrooms sold for 12 yuan per kg. Along the Beijing-Guangzhou Expressway, from Qingdao to Guangzhou, and finally to Hong Kong, China and Macao, China, these shiitake mushrooms were sold to various places.

New "company + farmer" model will drive 500 low-income households to increase income and get rich within three years

Compared with last year's cooperative profits, what Sun Chengyuan cares about more is the folks who work in his shiitake mushroom greenhouses. In his view, the key is to let the folks learn the technique of growing shiitake mushrooms. "With the technique, I can provide them with mushroom sticks, and they can build their own greenhouses and work on their own." Sun Chengyuan said that to make Pulandian District's shiitake mushroom cultivation industry big, relying on himself alone is far from enough; only when the people around him all get involved can this industry reach scale. To this end, the cooperative also launched a "company + farmer" model: "Any of the folks who work here, if they feel their technique is up to standard, can buy mushroom sticks from me at 4.4 yuan per stick and grow them in my greenhouses. After the mushrooms fruit, the cooperative handles sales. If the annual selling price of mushrooms from each mushroom stick is lower than 4.4 yuan, the cooperative bears the loss; if it is higher than 4.4 yuan, all the profit goes to the buyer." Sun Chengyuan hopes to use this to spread shiitake mushroom cultivation locally. "The folks gradually accept this industry, and naturally they will think about investing in building greenhouses."

Sun Chengyuan told the reporter that shiitake mushrooms are a highly nutritious edible fungus, with no distinction between peak and off seasons, and are an industry with year-round production, low investment and quick returns, able to earn money from two or three crops in the same year, and most suitable for farming households. And the cooperative's "company + farmer" model ensures that mushroom sticks, technical guidance, and shiitake mushroom collection and sales are all handled by the cooperative, with zero investment and zero risk, relieving shiitake mushroom growers of worries. After last year, four people have this year bought mushroom sticks from the cooperative. "Each of them bought 15,000 sticks, with estimated income of more than 30,000 yuan. This is only the first step. Next, our cooperative plans to use 3 years to drive 500 low-income households to build shiitake mushroom greenhouses, increase their income and get rich." Sun Chengyuan said.