The Mushroom King of Pu'an Gets Rich by Growing Shiitake Mushrooms
"Pu'an is a good place. The climate here is suitable for growing shiitake mushrooms, and the unique climate environment has given the mushrooms their fine quality. During the peak picking season, we harvest more than 1 ton a day, and we send them off fresh. The big ones go to two major buyers in Xingyi at 10 yuan per kg, and the small ones we process ourselves, drying them into 'Qingshan shiitake mushrooms,' and they sell very well..." As soon as he heard that we were staff from the Pu'an Rural Credit Union, Ji Zhongkai from Pingyang, Zhejiang, talked a blue streak, rattling off his entrepreneurial "experience," his face full of happiness.
Ji Zhongkai, nearly 50 years old, came to Pu'an to start a business in early 2014. By chance he saw the famous "land of fish and rice" at the Haiba flatland in Qingshan, and set his mind on starting a business and getting rich. No sooner said than done, he raised 20 million yuan in funding, and as quickly as possible registered and established the "Pu'an County Buyi Shiitake Mushroom Professional Cooperative," signing contracts to rent more than 200 mu of land from nearby villagers. In just half a year, his shiitake mushroom growing greenhouses rose on this fertile land. Seen from afar, the rows were neat and well arranged, becoming a unique sight of the Haiba flatland.
The cooperative is a key agricultural ecological planting demonstration base in Pu'an County and a poverty alleviation project integrating the government, the market and society. With a total investment of 30 million yuan, it has introduced two domestic advanced-level production lines, a high-temperature sterilization process, and advanced equipment including a 100-ton cold storage warehouse. It has successfully trial-grown various kinds of organic shiitake mushrooms free of toxins and pests, meeting national quality standards, and has obtained the "Qingshan shiitake mushroom" brand approved by the National Trademark Office. Shiitake mushrooms are sweet in taste and neutral in nature, neither warm nor dry, neither cold nor cool, and have nourishing effects such as protecting the skin and fighting cancer, strengthening bones and moistening the skin, and strengthening the stomach and aiding digestion. They are an indispensable delicacy on people's dining tables. The products are mainly sold to Shanghai, Nanning, Kunming, Guiyang and other places, and are deeply loved by people.
Growing shiitake mushrooms is meticulous work. Not only is it time-consuming, the technique must also keep up. To grow the mushrooms well, he hired 9 professional experts at high pay to take charge of mushroom cultivation. At the same time, he hired nearby labor according to the mushroom harvesting season, set up an incentive mechanism for them, and carried out quantitative scoring assessments based on workers' years of service and work efficiency, giving rewards by grade. During the peak growing season, the staff responsible for picking, sorting and drying numbered as many as 100, solving the employment problem of nearby villagers.
"There are now more than 200 greenhouses. Apart from transporting mushrooms to Xingyi, I spend the rest of my time walking around the greenhouses. Seeing so many mushrooms makes me especially happy, and I feel a sense of achievement." Ji Zhongkai said excitedly as he led us around his greenhouses.
"Every industry has its risks." When I brought up the risks of growing, he said sorrowfully. "In August 2015, the harvest was just about to begin, but unexpectedly a heavy rain flooded the entire Haiba flatland. The hope of a bumper harvest turned into a bubble, and I lost more than 3.9 million yuan all at once..." In his hesitation, the first thing Ji Zhongkai thought of was how to revive the business. While cleaning up the mess, he thought about how to bring it back from the brink. A large amount of capital had been invested earlier, and there was no usable money left to save the situation. What to do? "At that time I had truly fallen into an unprecedented predicament, and I had to find a way to raise funds and hurry to buy seed and produce. The leaders of the Qingshan credit union were very warm-hearted. When they learned of the situation, they promptly gave me a 300,000 yuan credit loan." This capable man paused and said, "With that 300,000, it was like a fish in water. I promptly bought mushroom spawn and planted again, and now the mushrooms are growing beautifully!"
When asked about his next plans, his eyes were full of hope. "I've rented another 350 mu of land, and I expect to build 1,050 standardized greenhouses, helping more than 500 farming households get rich. Adopting the 'enterprise + base + farmers' model, we'll encourage nearby ordinary people to grow them too. We provide the spawn free of charge, take charge of technical guidance, and buy back at a price 5% higher than the market price, so farmers can fully give it a try, plant boldly, and truly taste the 'sweetness' of shiitake mushrooms." He also has a bold idea: develop free-range chicken farming on the hilltop, open a rural restaurant, and feature the specialty dish "shiitake mushrooms stewed with free-range chicken" to attract visitors from all directions.
On the way back, scene after scene kept appearing in my mind: the neat shiitake mushroom greenhouses on the Haiba flatland, crowds of people coming and going to pick mushrooms, a scene of bumper harvest; the rural restaurant with a steady stream of guests, the pure aroma of shiitake mushrooms stewed with free-range chicken wafting in the air; and an insurance company salesman planning insurance for him...