Cultivating king oyster mushrooms: he returned to his hometown to start a second business venture

Walking into the Silongju edible fungus production base in Xingling Village, Shuangdun Town, several factory buildings come into view. Stepping into the mushroom production workshop, king oyster mushrooms as thick as chicken legs are neatly arranged on the shelves of the fruiting room, a rather spectacular sight. Wang Shen, head of the base, said: "When I first went to Fujian to investigate king oyster mushroom production projects, I felt this project would develop even better in Hefei, because not many people in Hefei cultivate king oyster mushrooms, so I immediately returned home to invest."

As a native of Shuangdun Town, Changfeng County, Wang Shen achieved success in business early on and earned his "first bucket of gold" in life. With the dream of starting a second business venture, in 2012 he returned to his hometown and, together with friends, invested more than 46 million yuan to establish a factory-style production base with an annual output of 6,000 tons of king oyster mushrooms.

"Do you know the origin of the name king oyster mushroom? Because it has the flavor of almonds and the texture of abalone, that is why it is called king oyster mushroom." Wang Shen said that producing king oyster mushrooms turns waste into treasure; its cultivation materials are agricultural waste such as sugarcane bagasse, wood chips and corn cobs. Wang Shen explained that the king oyster mushroom production process is complex, but results come quickly, output is large and benefits are high: packaging, sterilization, cooling, inoculation, cultivation, fruiting... after about 55 days, the king oyster mushrooms "break out of the bag." At present, the base can produce up to 16 tons of king oyster mushrooms per day. With such large output, how are they sold? Wang Shen said: "The king oyster mushrooms we produce are mainly sold to the Zhougudui wholesale market in Hefei, and then the Zhougudui wholesale market ships them to all parts of the country."

While starting his business, Wang Shen did not forget to help his fellow villagers get rich together. It is understood that the Silongju edible fungus production base uses a "company + farmers" production model and has already helped more than 100 nearby farming households earn money by working there. Peng Yuxia, a villager from the Beitou villager group of Xingling Village, Shuangdun Town, has worked at the base for two years. She said happily: "Working at the base, I earn more than 2,000 yuan a month, and I can also take care of my family and not neglect farm work. It is much better than working elsewhere."

Wang Shen said that this year, on the basis of year-round cultivation of king oyster mushrooms, the base will use the spent fungus bags left over from king oyster mushroom production to develop other edible fungi such as button mushrooms, thereby helping more farming households get rich and achieve moderate prosperity.