Interesting and comprehensive report on mushrooms in China, both infood traditions and as a busineess. Here is an extract:
The main force behind the mushroom industry in China is the small-scale rural household. According to the statistics by the Chinese Edible Fungi Association, there are 15 million rural households engaged in mushroom production and related activities. (We have obtained fairly precise statistical data from about 100, 000 rural households of the provinces.). The reason of so many rural households participating in mushroom cultivation is that compared with the grain crop production, mushroom
cultivation has much better profits. The average net income of a Chinese farmer is 500 RMB yuan, per mu of farmland (one ha equal to 15 mu ) while the profit of one mu space for mushroom cultivation is around 10,000 RMB yuan per year. However, compared with the grain crop production, the cultivation of mushroom requires a more advanced technology, especially the channel to sell mushrooms to markets. Cereals and grain have longer storage periods while the storage period of fresh mushroom is very short. If the mushroom cultivation of rural households cannot guarantee mushroom marketing, they will suffer big losses.
View the full report on http://www.lei.dlo.nl/leichina/files/78ca5deca29c48c75da777243aa01393.pdf
See on www.lei.dlo.nl
