Guangyuan farmer returns home to grow wood ear mushrooms, earns 1 million in 3 years

In the photo, Li Jie is turning wood ear mushroom logs.

In Yanzixiang, Wangcang County, Guangyuan, mention "Wood Ear Mushroom Brother" and everyone knows who he is: Li Jie, a villager from the local Group 4. This returning migrant worker began learning to grow wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms in 2014, and in 2015 he established a family farm and expanded the planting scale, with annual net profit reaching more than 600,000 yuan. And this year, Li Jie says he is "striving to earn 1 million."

Unwilling to work for others his whole life, he decided to return home and start a business

Li Jie is 41 years old this year and has worked away from home for many years. But deep down, Li Jie had always been resigned to working for others his whole life, thinking that one day he could start his own business, so he kept pondering how to use his hometown's rich forest and land resources to develop a profitable industry project. After investigation and consultation, Li Jie finally made up his mind in February 2014 to devote himself to developing wood ear mushroom and shiitake mushroom cultivation in his hometown. "At that time I had not yet learned much planting technology, and the income could only cover costs. Later, with the guidance and help of agricultural technicians in Yanzixiang, I mastered more practical planting techniques," Li Jie said. That year he raised 300,000 yuan, rented more than 20 mu of surrounding farmers' land, and planted 10,000 sticks of wood ear mushrooms and 118,000 sticks of shiitake mushrooms.

In the later process of developing the planting industry, Li Jie also learned that the central government had issued policies encouraging and supporting the transfer of contracted land to specialized large households, family farms, and farmers' cooperatives, in order to develop various forms of appropriately scaled operations, so he discussed with his wife and decided to prepare to build his own family farm. "The more I do, the more confident I become, and I am full of confidence in the market prospects for scaled development of specialty planting."

He returned home to grow wood ear mushrooms and says "this year I want to earn 1 million"

In 2015, with the support of relevant departments, with himself as farm owner and his parents and wife as the farm's main employees, Li Jie successfully established Wangcang County Yanzizhibo Family Farm and began realizing his well-off dream in the remote mountain township. From 2014 to now, 28 shiitake mushroom greenhouses have been built successively. By 2015, Li Jie's farm planting scale had continued to expand, with 15,000 sticks of wood ear mushrooms and 120,000 sticks of shiitake mushrooms. "Gross income reached 4 million yuan, and net profit has already reached more than 600,000 yuan." Speaking of his earnings from his labor, Li Jie could hardly hide the smile on his face. He told reporters that the farm currently has 4 regular migrant workers, with a monthly wage of about 2,000 yuan. At the same time, villagers from whom he rents land are often hired for temporary work, with a daily work fee of about 80 yuan. "This year, in addition to planting 15,000 sticks of wood ear mushrooms and 200,000 sticks of shiitake mushrooms, I will also plant more than 30 mu of the Chinese medicinal herb bai ji, more than 10 mu of zhu ling, and 4 mu of tian ma, striving to reach an income of 1 million yuan."