Guiyang's under-forest economy thrives

According to Guiyang bureau of forestry, the total output value of the under-forest economic chain in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, has so far reached 6.36 billion yuan, marking a 5.72-percent increase year-on-year. The area of under-forest cultivation has expanded to 109,600 mu (7,306.67 hectares), a 30.78-percent increase compared to last year.

In recent years, Guiyang has leveraged its forest resources, focusing on expanding and strengthening the under-forest economy in order to enhance its brand influence and promote its high-quality development.

Guiyang has promoted the under-forest cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) materials such as cork tree, potato orchid, Solomon's seal, goldthread, and China root, particularly in areas like Kaiyang county, Xifeng county, Xiuwen county, and Qingzhen county-level city.

By encouraging enterprises to follow the "Guizhou province's customized TCM botanical garden construction standards (trial)", Guiyang has successfully established several customized TCM botanical gardens and TCM material demonstration bases, improving the quality and market competitiveness of these materials.

Additionally, Guiyang has focused on developing the quality and quantity of specialty, rare and bulk edible mushrooms by building demonstration bases mainly for morels and burgundy mushrooms in Baiyun district, Xifeng county, Gui'an New Area, and Qingzhen county-level city. These demonstration bases not only diversify the under-forest economy, but also promote the large-scale growth and standardization of the mushroom industry.

Furthermore, Guiyang has used methods like under-forest cultivation and farming to make the most of its forest resources. By growing TCM materials and edible mushrooms, the city has successfully increased the income of 2,255 households and issued a total of 25.08 million yuan in labor wages.

Guiyang's efforts to capitalize on its forest resources, drive industrial transformation and upgrading, and increase incomes for farmers have led to win-win results in terms of both the environment and the economy.