Morel mushroom intercropping model gets online, no worries about sales
Right now, Zheng Yuezhong, a young returning entrepreneur and grower in Fu'an City, Fujian Province, is busy harvesting and selling fresh morel mushrooms. Customers in Putian, Quanzhou and elsewhere order through WeChat, Taobao and other platforms, and Zheng Yuezhong says there is now absolutely no need to worry about sales for the morel mushrooms.
Morel mushroom is a premium edible fungus, oval in shape, named for its net-like surface that slightly resembles a sheep's stomach. It is not only tender and delicious, but also rich in more than 20 nutrients such as vitamins, protein and amino acids.
“A market survey shows that currently few places in Fujian Province grow morel mushrooms, and even fewer people have mastered the artificial cultivation technique for morel mushrooms.” After careful consideration, Zheng Yuezhong introduced morel mushroom spawn from Deyang, Sichuan, and made his first trial planting of morel mushrooms on 14 mu, divided among seven pilot sites including Chixi and Youwo.
He not only planted morel mushrooms in grape greenhouses, but even tried growing them in front of and behind the villagers' houses. Looking at the flourishing morel mushrooms, visitors and edible fungus experts were all excited. “This is an experiment.” Zheng Yuezhong said his goal is to firmly grasp how morel mushrooms grow under various environments, so that in the future he can grow them under forest canopies and achieve higher returns.
“As soon as the bigger morel mushrooms are picked, the smaller ones grow out, one crop after another. Starting to harvest now, we can keep harvesting until the end of April.” Zheng Yuezhong said happily that the current batch is growing very well and has produced mushrooms in large quantities. The trial-planted morel mushrooms have a relatively high yield, and it is estimated that morel mushrooms intercropped in each mu of grape orchard will all be over 200 jin, with the current market price at around 120-150 yuan per jin.
Intercropping morel mushrooms under grapevines
Songluo Township has become the first township in Fujian Province to successfully intercrop morel mushrooms in grape orchards. Because the growing periods of morel mushrooms and grapes are different, this intercropping method avoids the grape fruiting period and brings fruit growers a considerable income. The township is actively exploring how to introduce a “company + cooperative + farmers + e-commerce” approach to truly link up the ecological industry chain of the Songluo late-maturing grape brand and create a precise circular economy model for the people.
After the morel mushroom trial planting succeeded, the news spread quickly and many people came to take photos
As the first farmer to “eat the crab,” after succeeding with his first cultivation, Zheng Yuezhong is even more optimistic about the development prospects of morel mushrooms. They are confident in their ability to provide nearby villagers with help in technology, processing and distribution. With the support of the government and relevant departments, they are planning to discuss cooperation with villagers and extend their reach to more than 3,000 mu of greenhouse grape orchards in the surrounding area.