Success with green lim mushroom cultivation model

Ms. Ho Thi Danh has successfully cultivated green lim mushrooms on lim tree branches. Photo: PHAN VINH

Creative ideas

Ms. Ho Thi Danh - Director of Thien Danh Construction, Agriculture, Forestry, Trade and Service Cooperative (Thien Danh Cooperative) said that many years ago, the forests in Tra Doc commune had many lim trees, along with that, the quantity of green lim mushrooms was also quite abundant. Green lim mushrooms became a product, a precious medicinal plant that local people used and gave as gifts. Later, lim trees were exploited a lot, green lim mushrooms also gradually decreased. Many people had to go deep into the forest to find a few mushrooms.

Green lim mushroom used to be a typical product of Tra Doc - Bac Tra My locality. Photo: PHAN VINH

Through research and study on scientific information channels, Ms. Danh knows that mushrooms are parasitic, only need a host, with sufficient conditions to provide nutrients for the mushrooms to grow. In addition, the technology of extracting and cultivating mushroom embryos is increasingly modern. Ms. Danh boldly experimented with cultivating green lim mushroom embryos on lim wood.

[ VIDEO ] - Ms. Ho Thi Danh shares about the process of cultivating green lim mushrooms on lim tree branches:

"At first, I found some remaining lim roots in the forest, through the internet, I contacted and bought green lim mushroom spawn at a facility in Khanh Hoa province. I also went to Tam Ky to learn about other mushroom growing models, saw them steaming the spawn bags, I brought the lim roots to steam. Then I went back to implant the mushroom spawn into the lim roots, tested for a while and the mushrooms began to grow and develop" - Ms. Danh said.

The lim branch substrate will be steamed before inoculating the mushroom spawn to parasitize. Photo: PHAN VINH

From this initial experiment, in 2022, Ms. Danh brought the model to participate in the District-level Creative Startup Project and Idea Competition and won First Prize, after which the model continued to be recognized as a provincial-level startup project. These results motivated Ms. Danh to be ready to invest in producing the model on a larger scale, creating products to supply to the market.

Need support to develop

Determining the development direction from lim trees, since 2020, Ms. Danh and members of Thien Danh Cooperative have invested in planting more than 500 lim tree seedlings on an area of 1 hectare of production forest land. In the immediate future, to have a source of raw materials for mushroom cultivation, Ms. Danh buys from the people, she only buys branches and twigs of lim trees over 5 years old without having to cut the trunk, then 2 years later will continue to exploit. She also invested in a greenhouse area with an area of ^50m2 , creating an environment similar to the forest space for mushrooms to grow.

Green lim mushroom grown on lim substrate has medicinal properties equivalent to wild green lim mushroom. — Green lim mushrooms grown on lim substrate have medicinal properties equivalent to wild green lim mushrooms. Photo: PHAN VINH

Every year, Thien Danh Cooperative produces about 3 crops, each crop about 3,000 - 5,000 mushroom spawns, with a rate of about 60 - 80%, the Cooperative harvests about 110 - 140kg of fresh mushrooms and after drying reaches 30 - 40kg of dried mushrooms. Because it is grown on the host of ironwood, the medicinal content of cultivated green lim mushrooms is only slightly different from that of wild green lim mushrooms. With a market price of 3 million VND/kg, but almost before harvest, Thien Danh Cooperative has customers ordering all of them.

With the green lim mushroom production model, Ms. Danh won first prize in the district-level startup competition and the product was certified with 3-star OCOP. Photo: PHAN VINH

Ms. Danh shared: "Many customers recommend each other to order but we do not have mushrooms to sell. The market demand for green lim mushrooms is very large so we are planning to expand the production area for continuous production. However, with the conditions of a mountainous cooperative, resources are limited so we hope that all levels will pay attention to support and create conditions for development."

3.5 kg of fresh green lim mushrooms after drying will yield 1 kg of finished dried mushrooms. Photo: PHAN VINH

According to Ms. Danh, the biggest difficulty of the cooperative at present is land resources. To carry out the plan of continuous production of cultured green lim mushrooms, an area of about 3.5 hectares is needed. It is estimated that the model will provide 50 - 70 kg of finished dried mushrooms every month.

In addition, Thien Danh Cooperative currently does not have a wood steamer, so each time a new batch is produced, it must be transported to a mushroom farm in Tam Ky for steaming, which is time-consuming and costly. Meanwhile, the steamer is sold on the market for about 300 - 350 million VND.

The 50m2 cage house model needs to be expanded for continuous production in the future. — The ^50m2 cage house model needs to be expanded for continuous production in the future. Photo: PHAN VINH

"Therefore, we hope that the local government will create favorable conditions for leasing land to expand the model at preferential costs for cooperatives. In addition, it is also necessary to have a loan mechanism or apply an industrial promotion program to support investment in steaming machines. If the model receives support from all levels, we will invest in production and create a brand for local products, worthy of the 3-star OCOP certification" - Ms. Danh proposed.

[VIDEO] - Ms. Danh shares some difficulties when the model only produces green lim mushrooms in small quantities:

Mr. Ho Cao Quy - Chairman of Tra Doc Commune People's Committee said that the locality highly appreciated Thien Danh Cooperative in its efforts to invest in economic development models. Recently, the locality also supported this unit to participate in a number of programs and achieved many impressive results, in which, the green lim mushroom product has achieved 3-star OCOP certification.

"The locality is ready to create all favorable conditions for Thien Danh Cooperative in particular and economic models in the commune under possible conditions. Regarding the land fund rented to expand the green lim mushroom production model, the locality will review the planning and support Thien Danh Cooperative to carry out land rental procedures according to the mechanism. In addition, the locality will also propose to higher levels to have more mechanisms and policies to support this model, moving towards product development and creating stable jobs for people" - Mr. Quy said.