80,000 log segments of wood ear mushrooms build a bridge to prosperity in Sanchahe town, Arun Banner, Inner Mongolia

Liang Zhongbao, a farmer in Sanchahe village, Sanchahe town, Arun Banner, uses oak trees from rotational felling on his silkworm farm to grow black wood ear mushrooms. With an annual net income of around 400,000 yuan, he has become a model prosperity builder in the town.

"These wood ear mushrooms grow in a natural environment, breathing fresh air and absorbing natural nutrients, so they taste good and are rich in nutrition." At Liang Zhongbao's black wood ear mushroom farm, hired workers discussed the ecological quality of the mushrooms while harvesting them. Farmer Du Jinfu is a poor household in the village. Since Liang Zhongbao began growing black wood ear mushrooms, he has used his three or four idle months each year to work at the farm, earning more than 10,000 yuan a year, equivalent to the income from growing over 50 mu of land. Being able to find a job close to home that increases his income without delaying farm work or caring for his family truly satisfies him.

More than 20 people work at Liang Zhongbao's black wood ear mushroom farm, all poor households in the village. Most of them rely only on farming for a living, have no other industry, and simply "live at the mercy of the weather," with a single income channel and very unstable earnings. Since Liang Zhongbao built the black wood ear mushroom farm in the village, these poor households have gained an extra income channel and extra earnings. By growing and harvesting wood ear mushrooms at the farm, they generally earn from several thousand yuan to more than 10,000 yuan, which plays an important role in improving their families' living conditions, and the poor households are all very happy.

Farmer Tang Feng said: We only grow a little crops each year, and when drought, floods or other disasters hit, income is very low. Here, harvesting some wood ear mushrooms during the idle farming season earns a few thousand yuan to supplement the household, and living conditions can improve a bit.

At the black wood ear mushroom farm, looking out: oak log segments about one meter long are neatly arranged at the foot of the mountain, row after row of mushroom logs lined up like steps at the mountain foot and in the woods, a truly spectacular scene; approaching each row of mushroom logs, glossy black wood ear mushrooms crowd together, bursting through the bark and covering the logs, blooming before the eyes.

According to farm manager Liang Zhongbao, black wood ear mushrooms have high requirements for temperature, humidity and air quality. The reason for choosing to grow them in the mountains is to make full use of the good conditions of the mountain's natural environment, fresh air and abundant moisture. In this natural environment, on the one hand the mushroom logs produce wood ear mushrooms from the inoculated spawn, and on the other hand many wood ear mushrooms grow naturally, so the black wood ear mushrooms here have good ecological quality and are rich in nutrition.

Talking about his path in mushroom growing, Liang Zhongbao opened up: Seeing that my family's farming income was unstable, and then seeing that the wood from rotational felling on the silkworm farm was all hauled home for firewood, I thought it was too much of a waste, so I came up with the idea of growing wood ear mushrooms. Starting in 2012, I bought 100 mu of felled trees from the silkworm farm and began growing wood ear mushrooms. That year the returns were not very impressive, but from the second year onward the returns gradually got better and better. I have kept at it for four years now, spending well over 100,000 yuan on labor each year, and annual income can reach 400,000 to 500,000 yuan.

At present, Liang Zhongbao grows 80,000 log segments of black wood ear mushrooms. Through black wood ear mushroom cultivation, he has truly embarked on the road out of poverty to prosperity, and over the past four years he has also helped some poor households in the village increase their income. This year, with the good policy of targeted poverty alleviation, the Banner Poverty Alleviation Office will provide support through poverty alleviation projects, and hopes that Liang Zhongbao's further development will directly drive more poor households to grow black wood ear mushrooms, so that poor households can escape poverty as soon as possible and live good lives. Liang Zhongbao has exactly this plan as well.

Liang Zhongbao said: "I myself have gone from being in debt to gradually becoming prosperous bit by bit. I want to bring along some poor households, have them all join my cooperative, and help them all escape poverty and become prosperous. I expect that next year I can bring along 20 poor households without a problem, not only lifting them out of poverty but also helping them prosper."

With the support of the poverty alleviation project, Liang Zhongbao is even more confident about the wood ear mushroom farming industry. He is now applying to set up a black wood ear mushroom growing cooperative, and he also plans to continue expanding the scale, striving to realize his dream of leading all the villagers to prosperity.