Mushroom Cultivation In China

[Marie Ota]

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Abstract: Mushrooms traditionally collected from forests and now more cultivated have recently become the products of the fifth-largest agricultural sector in China. It was estimated that more than 25 million farmers in China are currently engaged in the collection, cultivation processing and marketing of mushrooms. The total value of mushroom products amounted to 149 billion RMB Yuan (24 billion USD) in 2011. The raw materials have expanded from a few hardwoods to a variety of woods and increasing more into agricultural residues and wastes. The average annual growth rate has been over 10% over the past 30 years in China. This paper describes the rapid growth of mushroom cultivation and its contribution to food security and rural sustainable development. The roles of bio-innovation, technological dissemination, and marketing are also examined. Mushrooms could potentially be very important in future food supplies and in new dimensions of sustainable agriculture and forestry. Keywords: Edible fungi; rural economy; diets; poverty reduction; trade; sustainable agriculture

As the critical period for the cultivation of edible fungi in Hubei province occurs each spring, a provincial expert team has been busy visiting the main production areas to provide guidance for the recovery of the industry after recent snow and ice disasters.

"Hubei is a major province for the edible fungi industry in China, known for its strong production of shiitake mushrooms and as a significant contributor to exports of edible fungi," said Hu Zhengmei, deputy director of the Vegetable Office of Hubei Province.

"After years of development, Hubei has established three major advantageous cultivating regions and cultivated 25 varieties of edible fungi including shiitake mushrooms, morel mushrooms and Agaricus bisporus (button mushrooms), with products being exported to 74 countries and regions worldwide."

Suixian county, Suizhou, and Yuan'an county, Yichang, are famous for their high-quality shiitake mushrooms. Edible fungus enterprises are flourishing in these two locales, and mushroom cultivation can be seen in numerous locations.

"Suizhou is one of the four major shiitake mushroom production areas in the country, the second-largest shiitake mushroom trading market and a major processing and export base for edible fungi," Ke Ke, mayor of Suizhou, said at a recent news conference.

"As a distinctive strategic sector for Suizhou and a pillar for foreign trade, the mushroom industry boasts a complete industrial system, with over 300,000 employees and a total industry output value of nearly 50 billion yuan ($6.91 billion)."

"By 2023, the number of mushroom export enterprises reached 70, including two companies with annual exports exceeding $100 million. The total mushroom export value for the city reached $1.02 billion, accounting for 30 percent of the nation's total and maintaining the top position in Hubei for 20 consecutive years," Ke said.

Leveraging State-owned supply chain platform enterprises, a supply chain company has been jointly established by core mushroom industry enterprises to lead the construction of a mushroom industry supply chain system in Suizhou.

Utilizing new technologies such as big data, the internet of things and cloud computing, they have developed a smart mushroom digital application system and established a mushroom business-to-business e-commerce platform, creating an all-in-one platform for mushroom inquiries, transactions, settlements and financing to showcase Suizhou's leading role in the national edible fungi industry.

"We built a canned mushroom production line in 2022 with a capacity to produce 5,000 tons of canned mushrooms annually, which can generate $50 million in foreign exchange," said Zhou Huaxiong, general manager of the company.

In 2023, the company's exports stood at $21.5 million, with the main export products being mushroom sticks, fresh mushrooms and canned mushrooms. Mushroom sticks and fresh mushrooms are mainly exported to South Korea, while canned mushrooms are mainly exported to Russia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other countries and regions.

"There are 50 households joining in the mushroom cooperative with a total planting area of around 7 hectares," said Wang Zongbin, head of the cooperative. "Thanks to the training and promotion of the new cultivation model by agricultural experts, we enjoyed a good harvest last year and expect a better income this year."

In 1978, Yang Xinmei, a professor from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, successfully experimented with planting shiitake mushrooms in Yangjiapeng village, Suixian county, thereby launching the development of the mushroom industry in the province.

A team of experts led by Professor Bian Yinbing from the university has promoted the method of "centralizing mushroom bagging and decentralizing mushroom production" in various main production areas, driving the transition to a facility-based and intelligent mushroom cultivation era.

Bian's team has conducted research and development on green disease control techniques for major mushroom blights and improved the green disease control technology system, which uses scientific and technological methods to protect the healthy growth of mushrooms.

In recent years, the experts have teamed together with provincial-level edible mushroom industry tech-related departments, and collaborated with local governments to establish core demonstration bases for the mushroom industry, thus promoting the integration and demonstration of technologies for mushroom preservation and deep processing, as well as the widespread adoption of technologies for the recycling of organic waste from agriculture and forestry.

According to our current understanding of the fossil record, fungi have existed on earth as long as 438 million years. By 286 to 320 million years ago, basidiomycetes and ascomycetes, the groups of fungi that produce fruiting bodies, or mushrooms, had appeared. So when humans began to roam the savanna 6 to 10 million years ago, mushrooms had been around for quite some time and had probably already coevolved with some animals. Early civilizations of the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Chinese, and Mesoamericans appreciated mushrooms for food, medicine and religious ceremonies.

Part of the reason for the relative delay in the onset of human cultivation of this mushroom stems from its biology. Grifola frondosa grows at the base of large oak trees, emanating from the center of the trunk or from large rotting roots, rather than from logs, like wood ear, shiitake and enoki. So it was not easily cultivated by the log method, resulting in the delay in its domestication. An outdoor bed method was developed, but it was the revolution of artificial mushroom cultivation on enriched sawdust that allowed maitake to join the ranks of widely cultivated mushrooms.

Since 1993, Nammex has been producing certified organic mushroom products. Organic certification requires adherence to an ethic that recognizes the importance of toxin-free production of food products. NAMMEX supports this ethic and promotes organically grown mushrooms as the surest way to realize the full potential of these products. Certified organic mushrooms have multiple benefits: as herbal medicine that is free of harmful chemicals and as sustainable agricultural crops that are grown without damaging the environment.

Our goal is to provide the highest quality mushroom extracts and do so in a manner that promotes the well being of the planet and all of its inhabitants. We strive to accomplish this by growing mushrooms the way nature intended. The way you and your customers expect and in harmony with the values that we share.

As a mushroom grower since 1973, and being well aware of the economics of mushroom production, it became readily apparent that it was not possible to grow mushrooms in North America and sell them as a nutritional supplement.

After traveling to China in 1989 and meeting many scientists, economic development officials, mushroom growers and processors, the depth of knowledge and the ability to cultivate unlimited quantities of high quality mushrooms at a reasonable price made it clear that the future of mushroom cultivation was in China. It is appropriate since that is where Mushroom Cultivation began in the 12th Century.

Despite the scare tactics that are used to market U.S. grown mycelium on grain products, I have chosen to work towards bringing a new and important ethic to China and our entire supply chain. This is the only way in which North Americans can experience genuine medicinal mushroom extracts at an affordable price. It is also a positive change that brings a new awareness of environmental stewardship to China at large.

Morel mushrooms, Morchella spp., are highly sought after and are collected from the wild in the spring in regions throughout the US. Though there have been reports and patents on how to cultivate them in the US, the results have always proven disappointing with inconsistent and poor production yields. The failed attempts to cultivate morels in the US along with high consumer demand leads to a very limited supply of fresh morels. Fresh morels are only available by collecting wild mushrooms and can be purchased in the spring with prices reaching as high as $40 per pound. Recent research and farming activities in China have demonstrated a breakthrough in artificial morel cultivation. Chinese mushroom farmers are beginning to adapt a new methodology to grow morels outdoors with yields being consistent enough to allow producers to start making a profit on morel farming. The science behind morel cultivation is still in its infancy; however, the basic production techniques allow farmers to grow morels on a much more consistent basis then previously reported. Two key components that we think are necessary for the successful production of morels that have led to the recent expansion in Chinese morel farming are the selection of the morel species and the use of a nutrient supplement bag. It is believed that some morel species are mycorrhizal and require a symbiotic relationship with plant species to produce mushroom fruit bodies. This was the underlying belief in many of the previous production patents that have failed. However, it is now believed that some species may either be both mycorrhizal and saprophytic or that they may only be saprophytic allowing for easier growth in culture and fruiting in an managed production system. We propose to adopt the new Chinese production practices and do cropping trials in Pennsylvania and Maine to see how the northeast US weather and soils affects morel production. Penn State University has a large number of morel cultures in its culture collection ( -spawn/CultureList.pdf) which will allow us to do some preliminary tests to determine the best species to use for artificial cultivation. Once the best species are determined they will be tested in the field plots (along with indoor cultivation experimentation) to determine how the different species produce in the northeast climate. Though there is a patent filed in China on the process, the production practices described in the patent are very general and we foresee several production modifications (variability in nutrient supplementation as well as soil preparation) that would take place in the US that would therefore not require the purchase of patent rights to grow morels, if the patents are even applicable in the US.

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