Agaricus blazei mushroom cultivation opens the door to prosperity for farmers
In the third month of spring, hope is sown. On the land of Pingdi Village, Jichang Town, Shuicheng County, Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouses stand shoulder to shoulder, with workers busy carrying bamboo poles and others busy building greenhouses, the whole site a scene of bustling activity.
Pingdi Village, located east of Jichang Town in Shuicheng County, has fertile soil and a humid climate, making it especially suitable for growing Agaricus blazei mushrooms.
In 2015, Jichang Town built 75 Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouses and tried growing Agaricus blazei mushrooms, achieving good economic returns, and the ordinary people got a "taste of the sweetness."
"Growing these mushrooms is such a good deal - short growth cycle, long harvest period, guaranteed purchase at a floor price." Villager Wang Dewen was one of the villagers who grew Agaricus blazei mushrooms last year. Last year, his family grew them in 5 greenhouses and netted over 50,000 yuan over the year. "The trial planting last year brought good returns, and this year will surely be even better." Wang Dewen said that last year he learned all the techniques, so this year growing them would be more effortless and income would be higher.
The successful cultivation of Agaricus blazei mushrooms paved a good path for Jichang Town's poverty alleviation. This year, Shuicheng County Xiyuan Mineral Development Co., Ltd. began expanding Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouses in Jichang Town, building an Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouse industrial park, giving priority contracts to local poor households to grow and operate them.
"Each Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouse must be guaranteed a height of 3.5 m, with each layer maintaining a height of 60 cm. The position of the two support poles is very particular - the place where the support poles intersect should not be higher than the fourth layer..." Technician Wang Dehui was explaining to the workers the tricks of building Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouses.
Last year, Wang Dehui worked in the Agaricus blazei mushroom greenhouses, witnessed the process of Agaricus blazei mushrooms opening the "door to prosperity," and also learned the techniques for growing Agaricus blazei mushrooms. This year, Wang Dehui was hired by Shuicheng County Xiyuan Mineral Development Co., Ltd. as a manager and technician for greenhouse construction, becoming an employee of the company and receiving a fixed monthly salary of 3,000 yuan.
"I used to make a living by farming, and never expected that one day I could draw a fixed salary." Wang Dehui felt very proud when speaking of his current career. He said that this batch of greenhouses totals 600 to be built, with 300 in the first phase; 200 have already been built, and the rest will all be completed before the end of April.
The project adopts a participation and shareholding model of "company + village committee + poor households + landowning farmers," with the company responsible for unified construction and unified purchasing. Poor households can receive a greenhouse to manage without paying a single cent, and each poor household can earn 8,000 to 10,000 yuan per year.
In order to make the greenhouses sturdier and last more years, so that the ordinary people can gain more benefits, Shuicheng County Xiyuan Mineral Development Co., Ltd. also went to Kunming and Guangxi to purchase relatively sturdy mian bamboo for building the greenhouses.
"This year's Agaricus blazei mushroom expansion project has a total investment of 18 million yuan, with funds invested and construction carried out by the company, and all the spawn is also provided by the company. The project is carried out in two phases, covering 600 poor households and more than 1,540 people in 6 villages - Pingdi, Shangying, Qingtou, Anquan, Anju and Qizhi - in Jichang Town." said Wang Jinyi, deputy general manager of Shuicheng County Xiyuan Mineral Development Co., Ltd.: "After the greenhouses are completed, each of the 600 poor households will be responsible for managing and operating one greenhouse, which can generate returns in the same year. The Agaricus blazei mushrooms produced can also be exported to countries such as Germany, which greatly broadens the poor households' path to prosperity."