Dried mushrooms help villagers get through tough times

On Feb. 20, Liang Chunhua, manager of the mushroom cooperative in Gupo village, was busy weighing and packing mushrooms that growers brought to her.

Gupo is located in Changle township, Huayuan county, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, Hunan province and is known for its mushrooms. Thirty-one greenhouses that are used to grow the mushrooms can be found in the village and provide 6,000 sq m of total floor space. Many villagers have been able to escape from poverty by growing oyster mushrooms.

The COVID-19 outbreak has made it difficult to sell fresh oyster mushrooms, and potential rotting became an issue. Drying and vacuum packaging machines that the Gupo poverty alleviation work group bought for the cooperative have helped farmers address the situation and get out of trouble. 

The cooperative recently purchased 3,500 kg of fresh oyster mushrooms from growers at a price of five yuan (US$0.72) per kg and then dried and vacuum packed them. This approach extended the sales cycle of the product and prevented the mushrooms from rotting as a result of complications that have arisen during the COVID-19 outbreak. The deal brought in an additional income of 2,000 yuan (US$288) in average for each member of the cooperative.

Mushroom growers in Gupo have received more good news lately as well. A provincial-leading agricultural product processing company in Huayuan county has recently signed a sales and purchase agreement with the cooperative, which is very beneficial for them.