Current Development Situations and Countermeasures of Edible Fungus Industry in Heilongjiang Province in the Context of Rural Revitalization

Runqing CHEN

Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, Harbin 150028, China

Abstract The rise of the edible fungus industry has not only greatly increased the income of Chinese farmers, but also promoted the economic, social and ecological development of rural areas. Through a survey of the edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province, it found problems such as insufficient standardized production bases, insufficient coverage of "Internet+edible fungi", weak industrial clusters, conservative management ideas, and lack of professional talents. The development potential of edible fungi was analyzed and reasonable recommendations were put forward to promote the healthy, efficient and sustainable development of the edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province.

Key words Edible fungus, Rural revitalization, Heilongjiang Province, Current development situations

1 Introduction

The report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that the issue concerning agriculture is a fundamental issue related to the national economy and people’s livelihood, and it is required to always take this issue as the top priority of the party’s work and implement the strategy of rural revitalization[1]. Agricultural issues are related to China’s economic construction and social stability. Agriculture is always regarded as a basis for national stability and for people’s security in China.. The Party Central Committee of CPC has made a series of major deployments and issued a series of policy measures to win the battle against poverty and implement the rural revitalization strategy. The No.1 document of central government in 2019 proposes to accelerate the development of rural specialty industries, and actively develop industries such as fruit and vegetable tea, edible fungus, coarse grains and beans, potatoes, Traditional Chinese Medicinal materials, specialty breeding, and forest special flowers and seedlings. Besides, it is necessary to improve the quality standard system of characteristic agricultural products, strengthen the protection of geographical indications and trademarks of agricultural products, and create a batch of special product brands with "local names" and "township names".

Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Heilongjiang Province has attached great importance to the environmental protection and improvement of agricultural resources, and insisted on taking the rural revitalization strategy as the overall starting point for the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" in the new era. In 2016, Heilongjiang Province issued theDevelopmentPlanforForestryIndustryinHeilongjiangProvince(2016-2020), which specifies that it is necessary to vigorously develop the edible fungus industry represented byAuriculariaauricula(black fungus), especially to accelerate the development of wood-rotting type edible fungi (such asLentinusedodes(shiitake fungus) andGanodermalucidum) and grass-rotting type edible fungi (such asAgaricusbisporus, andPleurotuseryngii), to build a batch of edible fungus industrial bases with the production scale of tens of billions of bags. At the same time, the government of Heilongjiang Province has invested nearly 100 billion yuan to focus on the development of edible fungi, eco-tourism, elderly care, and wood processing. At present, edible fungus has become a new pillar industry in Heilongjiang Province and has attracted attention from all walks of life. In 2018, the total yield of edible fungi in Heilongjiang Province was 3.343 6 million t, ranking fourth in the whole country (Fig.1)[2]. Edible fungi with good market prospects mainly include black fungus, shiitake fungus,Tricholomamatsutake,Armillariellamelleaand so on. After entering the new era, accelerating the innovation and development of the edible fungi industry and stimulating the potential momentum of edible fungi will become the key to the innovative development of Heilongjiang’s rural characteristic and advantageous industries in the context of the rural revitalization strategy.

Fig.1 Provinces (regions) with the yield of edible fungus exceeding 1 million t in 2018

2 Current development situations of edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province

2.1 Diversified varietiesIn the 1990s, the production of edible fungus in Heilongjiang Province was dominated byblackfungus. With constant breakthroughs in science and technology, it has formed a common development pattern with many kinds of edible fungi such as black fungus, shiitake fungus,Tricholomamatsutake,A.mellea,G.lucidum,Hericiumerinaceus,Pleurotuscitrinopileatus,Morchellaesculenta,A.bisporus,P.eryngii,Strophariarugosoannulata,etc. At present, black fungus andH.erinaceushave become dominant and characteristic edible fungi varieties in Heilongjiang Province, and the products are exported to more than ten countries including Russia, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.

2.2 Diversified cultivation modesWith the continuous innovation of edible fungus production technology, the cultivation modes of edible fungi in Heilongjiang Province become diversified[4]. The cultivation mode has changed from the previous wood cultivation to the bag cultivation, and advanced practical techniques such as black fungus small hole cultivation, spring black fungus autumn management, hanging bag in sheds, and alternative material cultivation have been promoted on a large scale. The cultivation site has also changed from single indoor to outdoor. For example, the cultivation of black fungus has changed from hanging bag in sheds to outdoor cultivation; vertical interplanting of shiitake fungus in forest land and orchards. The transformation of cultivation mode has effectively improved the cultivation level and yield of edible fungi.

2.3 Obvious advantages of off-season cultivationThe climate of Heilongjiang Province belongs to a cold temperate and temperate continental monsoon climate. As the global warming, winter temperature is also rising. The growing season of edible fungi has sufficient sunshine and large temperature differences between day and night, which is more conducive to the conversion of nutrients. In September of each year, the medium and low temperature type edible fungus production is basically stopped in other areas of China. Heilongjiang Province takes full advantage of the climate and cultivates edible fungi in this season to fill the vacancy in edible fungi production, which can effectively increase the production of edible fungi and enhance the sustainable economic and social development potential of Heilongjiang Province. At the same time, it is helpful for Heilongjiang Province to get rid of poverty.

3 Existing problems of the development of edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province

At present, the edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province remains at the starting stage of development, and there are many bottlenecks. Thus, it is urgently necessary to solve these problems through introducing social capital, integrating social resources, giving full play to the advantages of talents, and improving the level of informationization. (i) The number of standardized and large-scale production bases is insufficient, the large-scale production capacity is weak, and the lack of leadership by leading enterprises, all of these make it difficult to form industrial clusters. (ii) Farmers have a low level of science and education, are accustomed to traditional business models, have a conservative resistance to modern technology and in-depth product development, and lack motivation for innovative management. (iii) With the aging of the population and the increasingly severe situation of negative population growth in Heilongjiang Province, there is a serious shortage of professional and technical personnel in agriculture, especially in the field of edible fungi, and the research and development forces are weak. The ideal technology research and development promotion system that combines production, education and research has not yet been established. (iv) The service system of edible fungus Internet commercial operation, quality inspection and quarantine is not perfect, and there is a lack of edible fungus deep processing enterprises and edible fungus order-type network marketing system.

4 Development potential of edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province

4.1 Suitable natural geographical environment and distinct location advantagesHeilongjiang Province is located in the northeastern part of China. It has a wide area. It is the northernmost province and the easternmost province in China. It covers a total area of 473 000 km2, ranking sixth in the whole country. The east and north of Heilongjiang face Russia across the river. It is an important Sino-Russian commercial and trade hub. It is adjacent to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the west and Jilin Province in the south. It spans 14 longitudes and 10 latitudes. The border line is 2 981.26 km; the terrain is characterized by "five mountains, one water, one grass and three fields". It is composed of mountains, platforms, plains and water surfaces, and it crosses the four major rivers of Heilongjiang River, Wusuli River, Songhua River and Suifen River. The climate of Heilongjiang Province belongs to a cold temperate and temperate continental monsoon climate. The annual average sunshine is 2 400-2 700 h, the frost-free period is 100-110 d, the precipitation is 500-600 mm, and the rain is concentrated in July and August, which is favorable for the budding of edible fungi and the growth and development of sporocarp[5]. In recent years, the Far East areas have a strong demand for edible fungi. Due to natural environmental constraints, Russia usually relies on imported edible fungi to meet its domestic market demand, and the main importing countries are China and the Netherlands. Heilongjiang Province is located in the hinterland of Northeast Asia and is an important land route from Asia and the Pacific to Russia. Therefore, it has a unique location advantage and is an important economic opening window for China’s border areas.

4.2 Rich raw material resourcesHeilongjiang Province is a large agricultural province in China. It has rich agricultural straw resources and an annual yield of 57 million t. Comprehensive utilization methods of straw can be explored to further improve the utilization rate of straw, and provide suitable raw materials for the development of grass-rotting type edible fungi such as A. bisporus and Pleurotus eryngii, reduce costs, and improve cultivation efficiency. In addition, Heilongjiang Province produces 10 million t of firewood every year. The remaining material after processing and the remaining material after the initial processing of imported Russian wood provide abundant raw materials for the production of wood-rotting edible fungi.

4.3 Good market prospect of edible fungiAt present, with the increasing improvement of living standards of the general public and increasing attention to healthy diet, the demand for edible fungi is increasing. Edible fungus has the advantages of high protein and low fat. It is rich in a variety of amino acids and trace elements required by the human body. It is greatly helpful for regulating body functions and promoting human metabolism[6]. In recent years, the consumption structure of edible fungi in Heilongjiang Province has gradually shifted from black fungus andP.ostreatus(mushrooms) to rare edible fungi such asM.esculentaandT.matsutake, so Heilongjiang Province has great potential for the development of high-end edible fungi products.

5 Recommendations for development of edible fungus industry in Heilongjiang Province

In the new era, Heilongjiang Province should make clear the agricultural development idea and positioning, further expand and strengthen the edible fungus industry, improve the technological level of edible fungi production, cultivate high-end varieties, and extend the edible fungus industry chain, strive to build a batch of large-scale edible fungus cultivation bases and leading processing enterprises.

5.1 Cultivating culture and characteristic brands of edible fungusDue to green, healthy, natural and ecological advantages, edible fungi are gradually recognized and accepted by more and more people. Heilongjiang Province should grasp the opportunity to cultivate its own unique edible fungus culture by building a modern museum of edible fungi and an edible fungus cultural industrial park; strive to build an edible fungus industrial base that integrates production and processing, commercial trade, talent training, and eco-tourism[7]; support leading forestry companies such as Heisen and Heizun to carry out in-depth research and development of edible fungus products, and create a batch of famous green edible fungus products in Heilongjiang Province; make full use of various exhibitions and trade fairs such as Heilongjiang Green Food Industry Expo to increase the promotion of Heilongjiang edible fungus products, attract domestic and foreign merchants, and establish distinctive brands; propaganda and popularize the knowledge of edible fungi, help consumers deeply understand its rich medicinal and edible value, promote consumption, and drive the optimized development of the edible fungus industry.

5.2 Strengthening technological innovation and product research and developmentThe fundamental reason for the weak competitiveness of the edible fungus market in Heilongjiang Province lies in too high production cost. Therefore, "saving costs and increasing efficiency" is the key to accelerating the high-quality development of Heilongjiang edible fungi and enhancing the competitiveness of the edible fungus industry. The report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed implementing rural revitalization strategy and promoting agricultural and rural modernization. The rural revitalization strategy promotes more capital, technology, talents and other production factors to flow into the agricultural and rural areas, which injects source power for the innovation of the edible fungus industry. Strengthening scientific and technological innovation and product research and development: (i) it is necessary to implement the new development concept of "green agriculture", optimize the selection and cultivation of edible fungus strains, rationally allocate social resources, strengthen professional skills of talents, and realize green, distinctive and high-quality edible fungi products; (ii) it is necessary to fully rely on the Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing platforms, and strive to build a "Internet+edible fungus" standard demonstration base; (iii) it is necessary to promote organic certification of green food, and promote the all-round improvement of the quality, variety and taste of edible fungi products in Heilongjiang Province[8].

5.3 Promoting industrial clustering and standardized managementIt is recommended to promote the clustering and standardization of the edible fungus industry, optimize product quality, strengthen export trade and market competitiveness, change the situation of "stressing the quantity but belittling the quality" in the past, and ensure the quality and safety of edible fungus products[9]. Besides, it is recommended to promote factory-based standardized fungus production, vertical cultivation, and intensive production, and establish an integrated production and marketing alliance of "forest farmers+cooperatives+processing and sales" in Harbin, Mudanjiang, Jiamusi, Yichun, Daxing’anling to form an edible fungus production and operation center. In addition, it is recommended to accelerating improvement of wood-rotting type edible fungi (such as shiitake fungus,G.lucidum,H.erinaceus,T.matsutake, andPholiotanameko) and grass-rotting type edible fungi (such asA.bisporus,P.eryngii, andStrophariarugosoannulata). Furthermore, it is recommended to care about the breeding and development of rare edible fungi and the domestication of wild edible fungi.

6 Conclusions

When implementing the rural revitalization strategy, it is necessary to comply with the new expectations of farmers, set foot on national conditions and agricultural conditions, focus on thriving businesses as the main points, pleasant living environments as the key, social etiquette and civility as the guarantee, effective governance as the foundation, and prosperity as the fundamental point, and promote the comprehensive upgrade of agriculture, all-round progress of rural areas and all-round development of farmers. The edible fungus industry is a modern agricultural development form that integrates multiple characteristics of high-efficiency agriculture, circular agriculture, low-carbon agriculture and sustainable agriculture. It is a characteristic industry that promotes increase of farmers’ income, agricultural efficiency and national health. Developing the edible fungus industry is of great significance to increase the supply of vegetables, alleviate the pressure on food safety, expand the source of human protein, and improve the national health level. After entering the new era, the edible fungus industry has become an important part of the agricultural industry system in Heilongjiang Province and a new economic growth point. In the future, it is expected to form a new type of agricultural and rural economy that is market-oriented, processing enterprises as the leader, and industrial clustering as the norm. At present, the edible fungus green ecological development system of Heilongjiang Province consisting of edible fungus cultivation base, edible fungus trading platform, and edible fungus specialty products has been initially formed. This system will play a key role in transforming Heilongjiang Province from a large agricultural province to a strong agricultural province.