Cultivating Mushrooms in Potato Storage Cellars During Their Idle Period in Xiji

    On June 3, an agricultural technician picked king oyster mushrooms inside a potato storage cellar. Xiji County in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, known as the hometown of Chinese potatoes, has in recent years built 8,671 standard potato storage cellars, with a total net area of about 1,366 mu. From mid-May to early October each year, these potato storage cellars sit idle and unused, causing a waste of resources. In 2008, the Xiji County Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center used the idle period of potato storage cellars to carry out trials at multiple sites, and successfully cultivated enoki mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms of good quality. This year, the county demonstrated and promoted enoki mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms in 40 potato storage cellars. On May 21, the first batch of mushrooms was harvested and brought to market, with an average wholesale market price of 12 yuan-16 yuan per kilogram. Each cellar can hold two batches of mushroom sticks within a year, and the estimated annual cultivation output value can reach 16,000 yuan-19,600 yuan. The plan is to extend this technology to the whole county within three years.