Juncao‑powered mushroom industry thrives in Yunxi

At 6 am, 56-year-old Xiong Sheng'e is already checking rows of mushroom cultivation bags inside a greenhouse in Yangjiawan village, Yunxi county, Hubei province.

Xiong works for Hubei Green Valley Biotechnology Co, earning between 4,000 and 5,000 yuan a month while remaining close enough to care for elderly family members.

"I have a salary and can still look after my family. I'm quite satisfied," she said.

Her job is part of a mushroom industry that has grown around a technology with a simple premise: use grass instead of cutting trees.

Forty years ago, agricultural scientist Lin Zhanxi developed Juncao technology, using fast-growing grass to replace timber in mushroom cultivation. The technique has since spread to more than 100 countries and regions, while Yunxi has developed it into a chain covering grass cultivation, mushroom strains, cultivation bags, growing, processing and recycling.

The approach fits a county facing strict ecological constraints.

Yunxi lies in the Qinba Mountains, upstream of the Hanjiang River and within the core water-source area of the middle route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Forest cutting is tightly restricted, while fertilizer and pesticide use is also controlled.

Traditional mushroom cultivation depends heavily on sawdust, creating what local officials describe as a conflict between mushroom production and forest protection.

Juncao offered another raw material.

"During my first visit, I found the climate here particularly suitable for edible fungi," said Wang Baoguo, chairman of Chengyou (Yunxi) Smart Agricultural Technology Co, who visited Yunxi in 2018.

"After years of development, we have upgraded extensive cultivation into modern, large-scale production."

Wang said the company uses locally grown Juncao in cultivation media, allowing production to expand without increasing pressure on forests.