“The Chinese industry still has a lot to learn in the battle to minimise problems during Agaricus bisporus cultivation”
and the current developments and advantages of synthetic spawn. The prime advantages are faster colonisation and better resistance to Trichoderma.
Ben van de Vorle, director of Mushroom & Substrate Consultancy, gave a lecture on behalf of Mushcomb. He proposed that while excellent machines and installation are being imported from the Netherlands, they are far from being used to their full potential. Obtaining good advice and instruction on how to use the equip- ment optimally should be seen as an integral part of the investment!
Enoki farms
Sunday saw a number of excursions in the Zhangzhou area. One modern enoki farm, Wanchen Biological Technology Ltd. was mind-blowing. The company has an ‘old’ part that was built two years ago which produces 40 tons of enoki every day (see Roel Dreve’s report in MB64) while in the meantime a new farm has been built on the same site with a capacity of 60 tons/day. One bottle allows 300 grams to be harvested, which means that 330,000 bottles are harvested and filled every day. But there is no lack of industrious hands – the company employs 400 people. Very strict hygiene protocols are imposed and the company uses liquid spawn. However, we were not permitted to take a closer inspection of the inoculation process during the tour. Including harvesting, the complete enoki production process takes 48 days.
There are a further six companies in China with even higher production. The largest but one enoki farm, China Green near Beijing, produces no fewer than 400 tons/day, according to general manager Mrs. Zhang Yang. The figures of China’s largest enoki producer are not known. Another company we visited was Jiatian Agri- cultural Development Co., Ltd.. This company was described in detail in MB62. Jiatian produces king oyster mushrooms on a massive scale.
Jew’s Ear mushroom We also visited a very simple, but highly efficient Auricularia auricua-judae farm. The ear shaped mushroom was striking for its stunning purple colour on the inside and velvety, coffee
brown shade on the outside. These mushrooms are grown on sawdust under non-climatised conditions and turn into beautiful specimens in the space of a year. They are mainly consumed dried.
As growing takes such a long time, the farm has been built in a very primitive and cheap manner. The warm, humid and virtually consistent outdoor climate alleviates the need for artificial forms of climate control. Growing this variety appears to be really easy, as there was not a single bag of substrate without a covering of mushrooms. Amazingly, there is a market for an astonishing range of mushrooms. The sheer diversity of Chinese cuisine means that a differ- ent variety of mushroom can be served in almost every dish and during every meal. Something we in the west can only regard with envy. To end, there was time to visit the Zhangzhou Xingbao machine factory which manufactures all machinery for mushroom production and processing. There was an impressive array of sold and ready for sale machines on display with a remarkably large number of filling machines for bottle cultivation and bags.
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At the Zhangzhou Xingbao machine factory.
Dinner time, with - in the mid- dle - the authors of this article Erik Polman (pink shirt) and Jos Buth with his partner.
MUSHROOM BUSINESS 23
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