After years of tinkering, Mr. Nguyen Cong Hieu and his group of friends have successfully planted red reishi mushrooms under the canopy of acacia forest, earning millions of dong for each pound of this precious medicinal herb.
For a long time, Mr. Nguyen Cong Hieu (43 years old, living in Pleiku city, Gia Lai province) has always cherished building a model of growing red reishi mushrooms under the canopy of the Central Highlands forest.
If this precious medicinal plant can grow under the forest canopy, local people participating in the model can both protect the forest environment and develop the economy.
Starting in 2017, Mr. Hieu and some friends chose red Ganoderma for experimental planting under some canopy of natural forests, plantations and even under the canopy of agricultural trees…
When mushrooms grow in many different environments, Mr. Hieu brought the products to be tested for their nutritional value to choose the right environment for long-term cultivation. After many failures, he and his group of friends chose to grow red reishi mushrooms under the canopy of acacia hybrid forest.
Mr. Hieu said that in 2017, together with a group of friends, he bought more than 40 hectares of land and planted acacia hybrid in Chu Pah district (Gia Lai). Taking advantage of this acacia forest, he experimented with growing reishi mushrooms based on a professor’s model.
In order to implement this model, Mr. Hieu has studied, learned experience, transferred techniques and accumulated a lot of knowledge of mushroom cultivation. At first, Mr. Hieu planted mushrooms under the avocado tree, but it didn’t work. Because the leaves and canopy of avocado trees are dense, blocking a lot of light, making mushrooms grow poorly. In addition, the cost of labor to care and weed is large.
After many failures, in 2022, Mr. Hieu decided to choose an acacia tree canopy to plant nearly 20,000 embryos of red reishi mushroom on an area of 1ha. According to him, under the acacia canopy, little grass grows, easy to clean. In addition, the resin of the fallen acacia leaves is also very good for the soil for mushroom embryo culture.
Mushrooms grown under acacia trees have a survival rate of 98%, much higher than those grown in greenhouses. In particular, the quality of cultivated Ganoderma is outstanding because of the timely harvest and adequate nutrition for the plant.
The model of growing red reishi mushroom under the canopy of acacia hybrid forest for high economic efficiency
“In order to grow 1ha of reishi mushrooms, I have invested more than 1 billion VND (45$). This is quite a risky decision to spend a large amount of money to buy experimental mushrooms. Many people have prevented me, but I am still determined to take a real risk. now”, said Mr. Hieu.
Over 4 months of “eating and sleeping with mushrooms”, Mr. Hieu harvested the first 1,000 mushroom embryos with a weight of 50kg. At that time, he sold each kilogram of fresh mushrooms for 500,000 VND (20$), while dried, vacuumed mushrooms cost 1.5 million VND (70$)/kg.
Mr. Hieu said: “On average, I invest 1,000 embryos with a cost of about 60 million. With 1,000 embryos, I will harvest about 3-4 times, total profit is about 120 million. properly so that the fungus does not turn into the wood, losing valuable nutritional content”.
After harvesting, Mr. Hieu cleans the mushrooms and dries them so that they can be preserved for a long time. For every pound of fresh mushrooms, more than 400g of dried mushrooms will be obtained.
Currently, Mr. Hieu has planted more than 20,000 red reishi mushroom embryos on an area of 1ha of forest. It is expected that by the end of 2022, he will plant another 20,000 embryos to expand the area.
At the same time, Mr. Hieu established the Co-operative of agricultural service Nui Co (Ia Ka commune, Chu Pah district, Gia Lai province), providing technical guidance to people in the area to expand the mushroom growing area. , economic development.
Mr. Hieu added that in the near future, he will transfer mushroom embryos to people in the area for trial planting, especially ethnic minority people. This is a good farming model, creating conditions for economic development and sustainable poverty escape. The objective of the cooperative is to link and create conditions for the people of 2 villages Mrong Ngo 3 and Mrong Ngo 4 (Ia Ka commune) to have an additional source of income.
“We also cooperate with households with planted forests or wishing to grow medicinal mushrooms to expand production. The cooperative will provide embryos, technical guidance and product consumption. Initial support will be deducted when people have products to sell to cooperatives,” Mr. Hieu informed.
Photo: Internet (vinlove.net)