Tiny edible fungi broaden farmers' path to increased income and prosperity

"How can rural areas find their way to prosperity? Only by innovating and starting businesses in line with local conditions can they break out of their difficulties." In the process of leading villagers to prosperity together, Yan Bingji, a Party member from Qianjin Village, Xindian Town, Bin County, through constant exploration, found an edible fungus project suited to Qianjin Village's development, opening ever wider the village's path to prosperity through entrepreneurship.

Yan Bingji, 38 this year, is a farmer born and raised in Qianjin Village, Xindian Town, Bin County. After graduating from junior high school he farmed at home, and at the age of 20 he began working away from home. He often went to the agricultural park where his wife worked to "steal skills," and from this he saw the development prospects and considerable profits of cultivating edible fungi, realizing that edible fungi were a good project suited to Qianjin Village's development.

In 2008, with a burst of drive, Yan Bingji invested 150,000 yuan to build a greenhouse covering 600 sq m, and that year planted 15,000 bags of shiitake mushrooms. Through constant practice and exploration, Yan Bingji gradually mastered advanced experience and techniques for cultivating edible fungi. At present, he has built 4 edible fungus greenhouses, covering an area of 3,000 sq m, producing 100,000 fungus bags, with a total investment of 600,000 yuan and an annual profit of 150,000 yuan, becoming a widely known mushroom king.

In order to help more people prosper, Yan Bingji teaches edible fungus cultivation techniques free of charge, and took the initiative to contact more than 50 rural laborers in the surrounding area who were idle at home, to come work at his operation, or to help them start businesses using idle land.

Under Yan Bingji's leadership, the villagers changed their traditional production mindset centered on grain, their entrepreneurial awareness ran very high, and they came one after another to learn from him. To avoid villagers blindly switching to other ventures, with the support of the Party committee of Xindian Town, Yan Bingji took the market as his guide and relied on professional associations, setting up training classes, spreading knowledge of distinctive planting and breeding, and taking the initiative to guide villagers in rational diversification, integrating limited land resources, and engaging in distinctive planting and breeding, leading villagers gradually onto a path of specialized development.