Mushroom industry burgeons in Guizhou

Guizhou is home to more than 80 percent of China's mushroom varieties. [Photo/ddcpc website]

In recent years, Southwest China's Guizhou province has seen its mushroom industry grow and ranked first in the nation for the annual growth rate of the mushroom industry. The scale of its mushroom industry ranks among China's top 10.

In 2021, Guizhou's output of mushrooms was 1.81 million metric tons, an increase of 50.2 percent year-on-year. The total output value hit 22.06 billion yuan ($3.16 billion).

With its warm and moist climate, 62 percent of forest coverage and high water quality, Guizhou has a suitable environment for growing mushrooms.

The mushrooms produced in Guizhou are organic, high-quality and nutritious. According to a sample survey, the amino acid content of black fungus grown in Guizhou is 1.85 times the national average.

Guizhou's varieties of wild mushrooms account for more than 80 percent of the country's total. The province is renowned as a top producer of bamboo fungus, boletes, toadstools and lucid ganodermas.

Guizhou has three major mushroom industrial belts in the southwest, northwest and east, and is one of the largest high-quality bamboo fungus producers in southern China.

In addition to fresh mushrooms, Guizhou is also developing mushroom extraction products, freeze-dried mushrooms and mushroom dressing so as to extend the mushroom industrial chain and increase the value and benefits of the mushroom industry.

In the future, Guizhou aims to establish more demonstration mushroom production bases, attract mushroom deep processing companies, and develop food and medicines made from mushrooms.

Guizhou will also attract companies involved in mushroom breeding, large-scale planting, mushroom recycling, cold chain logistics, mushroom marketing, and mushroom planting equipment to promote the overall development of the mushroom industry.