Red mushroom cultivation forms an industrial chain, Yibin woman leads farmers to prosperity

On a small hill in Qingluo Community, Qingqiao Village, Jinping Town, Cuiping District, Yibin City, red mushrooms grow densely under the trees. At first glance, one would think they were wild mushrooms in a small forest. Zeng Jiuxiang, chairman of Yibin Jiuzhou Camellia Comprehensive Development Co., Ltd., carried a bamboo basket on her back and, while talking, hurriedly pulled the reporter up the hill to share the results of her careful cultivation. The successful cultivation of red mushrooms under the forest this time has made Zeng Jiuxiang the first person in Yibin and even Sichuan to successfully cultivate red mushrooms artificially under the forest.

Red mushrooms are hard to grow, but she became the first person to cultivate them artificially

Zeng Jiuxiang's other identity is chairman of the Xiangmei Seedling Planting Professional Cooperative. Before 2009, while doing a fresh flower business in Kunming, Yunnan, she came to know morel mushrooms by chance, brought them home and successfully cultivated them. At the end of last year, she brought red mushrooms back to her hometown and tried artificial cultivation of red mushrooms under the forest.

Zeng Jiuxiang picking a basket of red mushrooms

According to Zeng Jiuxiang, red mushrooms belong to the class Basidiomycetes and contain various polysaccharides, amino acids and fatty acids. Red mushrooms have a unique flavor, fragrant and refreshing. Their taste is incomparably fresh and sweet compared with any other mushroom; they also contain many components such as amino acids essential to humans. They have effects in treating tumors, especially lung tumors, soreness of the waist and legs, numbness of the hands and feet, discomfort of the muscles and bones, and limb cramps, as well as enriching the blood, nourishing yin, cooling and detoxifying, and treating diseases such as anemia, edema, malnutrition and excessive bleeding in postpartum women. They also have effects such as increasing body immunity and fighting cancer. Regular consumption can make the skin smooth, keep one energetic and prolong life.

"The hyphae of red mushrooms cannot be separated, so artificial cultivation is still impossible, and they are becoming increasingly precious." Before going to Zeng Jiuxiang's red mushroom base, the reporter specifically searched for techniques for artificially cultivating red mushrooms, but found the result that there is still no artificial cultivation. Yan Fei, deputy director of the Forestry Bureau of Cuiping District, Yibin City, also told the reporter that in Yibin and even in the Sichuan region, he had never heard of anyone successfully cultivating red mushrooms under the forest.

So far, Zeng Jiuxiang has become the first person in Yibin and even Sichuan to artificially cultivate red mushrooms under the forest. This successful artificial cultivation of red mushrooms under the forest has also broken the rumor that brightly colored mushrooms are all inedible.

3,000 jin of red mushrooms per mu, demand exceeds supply

"Generally, red mushrooms can only be grown in greenhouses, and purely natural artificial cultivation under the forest is extremely difficult." Zeng Jiuxiang said that the spawn production technology and cultivation methods are the core of planting. Because under fully open-air forest cultivation, temperature, humidity and other factors cannot be controlled artificially, she was also worried at first that the red mushrooms could not be successfully cultivated.

"I just like challenging the impossible." Although it was very difficult, Zeng Jiuxiang still carefully developed it using the experience she had learned and simulated the original growing environment of red mushrooms. In March this year, Zeng Jiuxiang's red mushrooms began to yield, and only then did she feel relieved. "The red mushrooms cultivated this time are expected to produce more than 3,000 jin per mu, with a total of about 6 mu, and the wholesale price per jin can reach 20 yuan. They can produce three seasons each year. As soon as the red mushrooms matured, many high-end restaurants in Yibin began rushing to place reservations, and now the orders are already lined up one after another."

"Forests can also produce cooked vegetables." Yan Fei told the reporter that in recent years, Cuiping District of Yibin City has taken increasing the development of the under-forest economy as fundamental, with the government providing infrastructure construction, project support, and financing platforms, and guiding professional cooperatives to drive farmers to develop the forestry industry. Zeng Jiuxiang is a typical representative.

Next, Zeng Jiuxiang will expand the mushroom planting area, carry out deep processing of mushrooms, and adopt the form of "company + professional cooperative + family forest farm + base + farmers" to form an industrial chain, drive farmers to prosperity, and lead more disabled people and women to start businesses.