Small black fungus in Qing'an, Heilongjiang grows into a big industry for increasing income and prosperity

Strings of black fungus bags hang all over the entire greenhouse like rows of lanterns, and on closer look, the black fungus sprouts the size of rice grains have already emerged inside the bags.

On May 10, the reporter walked into the Heyu Black Fungus Planting Professional Cooperative in Dongwang Village, Daluo Town, Qing'an County, where chairman Hu Yu, dressed in work clothes, was busy alongside the workers. Hu Yu said that once the fungus bags are hung in the greenhouse, they begin the busiest production season of the year, and by the end of May the first batch of black fungus can be harvested, with production continuing until September.

Hu Yu's black fungus is uniformly small black fungus, but small black fungus has a big market. Within Qing'an alone, more than 10,000 jin can be sold in a year, and Inner Mongolia is the cooperative's sales base, with annual sales exceeding 20,000 jin.

Hu Yu, 35 years old, is from Inner Mongolia. More than ten years ago, Hu Yu graduated from the Inner Mongolia Agriculture and Animal Husbandry School and worked as a vegetable technician in Inner Mongolia for two years. After marrying into Xinsheng Township in Qing'an, she regarded Qing'an as her second hometown and developed the black fungus industry at Liuhe Farm in Qing'an County. Limited by funds and technology, Hu Yu's black fungus was initially all produced in bag-laying mode. In 2007, Hu Yu bought the idle village primary school of more than 600 sq m in Dongwang Village, Daluo Town, and built a spawn factory with an annual output of 300,000 bags. In 2008, she established the Heyu Black Fungus Planting Professional Cooperative, and the black fungus production base was moved to Dongwang Village.

In 2010, greenhouse hanging-bag black fungus rose in popularity. With this black fungus planting technique, the black fungus produced is of good quality and high yield. Hu Yu built two greenhouses at her own base and took the lead in developing greenhouse black fungus, and the spawn factory was also expanded to a scale of 600,000 bags.

Bu Guiling, a villager from Dongwang Village, was among the first farmers to grow black fungus together with Hu Yu. She grew from 3,000 to 5,000 bags to 40,000 bags, with an annual income of more than 40,000 yuan.

The Heyu Black Fungus Cooperative has driven more than 20 farming households like Bu Guiling, and Hu Yu supplies more than 200,000 bags of spawn a year.

The Heyu Black Fungus Cooperative has become a jobs base at the doorstep of Dongwang Village farmers. During every harvest season, more than 40 workers are hired every day, with wages settled by the hour: male workers earn 10 to 12 yuan per hour, and female workers earn 7 to 10 yuan per hour. Bu Guihua has worked at the Heyu Black Fungus Cooperative since 2008, with an annual income of more than 20,000 yuan.