Mushroom industry sprouts success for villagers of Huangshan

Cheng Rihui walks in his mushroom farm in Heping village. [Photo/xuexi.cn]

Cheng Rihui, who worked far away from his hometown for over 20 years, returned back to Heping village – administered by Shexian county in Huangshan city, Anhui province – when he heard that the mushroom industry there was very promising.

In the event, Cheng invested over 1.4 million yuan ($205,445) to cultivate over 100 mu (6.67 hectares) of edible mushrooms since August 2022.

"The current yield is around 400 kilograms per mu and that is worth 24,000-26,000 yuan according to the current market price," he said.

The local mushroom industry is growing fast in Huangshan. [Photo/xuexi.cn]

There are many villagers in Shexian county now making a living from the growing mushrooms. In the Shexian Huamei Family Farm, farmers are busy picking shiitake mushrooms.

They planted some 25,000 sticks of shiitake mushrooms and the total investment of 100,000 yuan was basically paid back during the Spring Festival, when mushrooms sold for up to 16 yuan per kilogram.

An overview of the edible mushroom farm in Shexian county, Huangshan. [Photo/xuexi.cn]

Last year, Shexian county cultivated over 500 mu of edible mushroom, with the production exceeding 320 metric tons and an output value of 4 million yuan.

In addition to technical guidance and land to support the local farmers, the county also issued a special policy to boost the development of edible mushrooms last year. 

This granted farmers 1 yuan for each mushroom stick and increased support for over 50,000 sticks.