Industry sprouts from rotting reeds

Greenhouse growth

A greenhouse was also equipped to monitor temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide concentration and other parameters of the reed mushrooms. Conditions in the greenhouse can be controlled remotely via mobile phones or automatically for an optimal growth environment.

"With the multifunctional greenhouse, we can guarantee stable and unaffected growth of the reed mushrooms for three seasons each year and dramatically increase output per unit area," Wu said.

To further support the industry, Yuanjiang set up a special office in March that employs a large number of local farmers who no longer have to leave the city to find work.

With increased production capacity, city officials and growers are expecting the industry to produce 100,000 tons of reed mushrooms by 2022.

Shi also hopes to build an organic fertilizer plant, utilizing the reed residue from mushroom cultivation.

"This is how we will push toward green recycling and comprehensive transformation of the reed industry," he said.

Xinhua