Yushu City, Jilin: Waste reuse makes mushrooms grow plump and strong

In early autumn, walking into the mushroom cultivation greenhouse in Daoyangshan Tun, Beigou Village, Bahao Town, Yushu City, rows of edible fungus bags are neatly arranged, and clusters of fresh, tender and thick mushrooms poke their heads out of the fungus bags, full of vitality... "These fungus bags are all made from corncobs that farmers used to burn for fire, which is both economical and environmentally friendly," introduced Zhang Yunfeng, head of the edible fungus greenhouse film industry.

By adopting a new planting model, Zhang Yunfeng used corncobs and farmyard manure chicken droppings instead of the previous wheat bran and chemical fertilizers to make fungus bags. The cost came down, and the mushrooms grown had no pesticide or chemical fertilizer residue, making them natural and green. "Using corncobs to make fungus bags lowers the cost by about 20% compared with before, and the yield has even increased slightly. Once the cost is down, we have an advantage in seizing the market." Zhang Yunfeng told reporters that relying on quality and price advantages, the mushrooms of Daoyangshan Tun quickly "spread" in sales in Changchun, Harbin and other places.

Speaking of using corncobs and chicken droppings to make fungus bags, the process was not so smooth. "The cost of making fungus bags with wheat bran and chemical fertilizers rose year after year, so I began experimenting with switching to corncobs and farmyard manure. At that time, the chicken droppings for the experiment were piled up in my own yard, and the smell was so bad that the villagers all walked around it." Zhang Yunfeng said with a smile that in order to experiment with the new fungus bags, he specially set aside an area in the greenhouse for experiments, but after comparing returns, the fungus bags using corncobs had a lower mushroom yield, and the effect was not ideal.

Zhang Yunfeng did not give up. By consulting materials and going elsewhere to study, he finally found the root of the problem: the raw material ratio was improper, and the ammonia gas produced by the chicken droppings inhibited the growth of mycelium, affecting mushroom yield. With the problem solved, he successfully made fungus bags suitable for mushroom cultivation by pre-treating the chicken droppings and adjusting the raw material ratio. "Now each fungus bag can reduce the cost by 3 mao, and our tun can save more than 200,000 yuan on raw materials alone, with a clear overall improvement in benefits." Zhang Yunfeng calculated an economic account for us.

Now, Daoyangshan Tun already has 24 greenhouses using this new planting model, with a peak daily output of 24,000 kg of edible fungi. The local discarded corncobs have also been turned from waste into treasure and become "hot favorites." "I plan to set up a mushroom cultivation cooperative so that more people can learn and apply this new technology, and lead the fellow villagers to get rich together." Looking to the future, Zhang Yunfeng is full of expectation and confidence.