Mushroom-growing expert forges a path to prosperity through ecological agriculture
Xiao Guoshui has been rooted in Huokou She Ethnic Township in Luoyuan County since 2009, serving as director of the Qifeng Village Committee and chairman of the Qifeng Shanshui Ecological Agriculture Farmers' Professional Cooperative. Over 7 years, he has worked diligently and innovated boldly, leading villagers to prosperity.
He is also vice president of the Fujian Province Rural Youth Prosperity Leaders Association, president of the Luoyuan County Edible Fungi Industry Association, vice president of the Luoyuan County Model Workers Association, and a deputy to the Fuzhou Municipal People's Congress.
In 2011, he was awarded the title of "Fuzhou's 32nd Model Worker," and in 2015 he was named one of the "9th National Rural Youth Prosperity Leaders" by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Communist Youth League Central Committee. He is a green entrepreneur who gave up business for farming 7 years ago, promoted the withdrawal from pig farming, and restored the ecological landscape of the She ethnic township; he is a "mushroom-growing expert" who has continuously reformed and innovated over 7 years, developed under-forest economy, and driven agricultural transformation and upgrading; he is a leader on the path to prosperity who has built roads and bridges, promoted tourism, and guided villagers to wealth.
He often says, "I am just a farmer." He is Xiao Guoshui.
Into the She ethnic township, becoming a "mushroom-growing expert"
Qifeng Village is located in Huokou She Ethnic Township, the "Land of the Phoenix" in Luoyuan County. It is a village in the old revolutionary base area and a key ecological protection zone for Fuzhou's "second drinking water source." The village has 260 households and 980 people.
On a recent morning, the reporter met the late-arriving Xiao Guoshui. It turned out that many wholesalers had come to him early that morning to place orders, and someone had also invited him to teach a mushroom-growing training class.
7 years ago, Xiao Guoshui, then approaching 40, had his hometown at heart. He gave up a stable business in the city and resolutely went into the mountains of Luoyuan - Qifeng Village - to become a farmer with mud on his boots, starting from scratch to grow mushrooms and build a business.
In 2009, in response to the policy call to protect Fuzhou's "second drinking water source," Qifeng Village became the first demonstration village for livestock and poultry rectification. As village committee director, Xiao Guoshui mobilized villagers to withdraw from pig farming, and how the villagers would make a living became a major problem he faced.
"Without setbacks, there is no success." At the end of that same year, Xiao Guoshui took the lead in establishing the Luoyuan County Qifeng Shanshui Ecological Agriculture Farmers' Professional Cooperative, organizing local pig farmers to develop edible fungi production, oil tea cultivation, high-yield moso bamboo forest cultivation, and under-forest planting and breeding in an ecological circular agriculture model, overcoming many difficulties such as "being viewed with skepticism," "unsalable products," and "natural disasters."
After 7 years of effort, the cooperative was honored with titles including National-Level Demonstration Cooperative, Fujian Province "Vegetable Basket" Base, and Fujian Province Modern Agriculture Edible Fungi Industry Technology System Demonstration Base. Last year, it became a pilot demonstration base for Fujian Province research institutes and universities to carry out (national) major agricultural technology promotion services.
Deep cultivation of agriculture makes him a "pioneer of reform"
"Just steep it for three to five minutes, and a can of white fungus can serve as breakfast. It is not only convenient but also retains its nutrition." Xiao Guoshui told the reporter that the cooperative has carried out technical cooperation with the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences to deeply process products into canned goods and ready-to-eat foods. It is currently trying to bring them to high-end markets such as Beijing and Shanghai, and using newly built e-commerce platforms to deliver products directly from the mountains to the dining table, letting traditional agriculture ride the fast track of the internet.
"To merely maintain the status quo is to regress." Xiao Guoshui believes that traditional agriculture must reform, innovate, transform, and upgrade.
In December 2015, under the technical guidance of the Municipal Agriculture Bureau, the cooperative tried cultivating the "queen of fungi" - bamboo fungus - in moso bamboo forests at an altitude above 500 m, achieving symbiosis between bamboo and bamboo fungus.
"The cooperative produces 3 million bags of spent mushroom substrate a year. If thrown away as garbage, it would not only pollute the environment but also incur substantial transportation costs." Xiao Guoshui told the reporter that through technological innovation, spent mushroom substrate containing sawdust and nutrients is used to cultivate bamboo fungus, cutting raw material costs in half and turning waste into treasure.
The reporter learned that due to a good harvest this year, the bamboo fungus on more than 20 mu of experimental land can reach an annual output value of 600,000 yuan, and each mu of bamboo forest can also increase villagers' income by 500 yuan.
To reduce the risk of "cheap grain hurting farmers," the cooperative has cooperated with research institutions such as the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry University. Using the "heat-preserving inner shed" technology, it can achieve the goal of "controllable year-round growth" for bamboo fungus, thereby adapting to changes in market demand.