Pine mushrooms in Yajiang County to be traded at new center and tracked online
The harvest season of pine mushrooms, or songrong, in Yajiang County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, officially started in the middle of July. This year all of the mushrooms will be traded in a new center and tracked via an online platform to ensure their authenticity and safety under the pairing assistance from Hangzhou's Shangcheng District.
Shangcheng District has paired with Yajiang County since 2021. The district invested over 60 million yuan (US$8.3 million) to build the trade center, which covers an area of 7,763 square meters with space for tasting, commercial negotiation, tourism experience and digital exhibition. Farmers are required to trade in the center instead of selling the mushrooms on the roadside.
"The trading center supports us in building an industrial chain and finding more stable sales channels," said Li Dongying, dean of Shangbeihou Village committee. "Formerly, farmers sold the produce by themselves, making the market loose and separated."
Shangcheng District also launched a digital management platform, ensuring that every production and sales procedure is under the government's supervision. The platform can track every code, and all statistics uploaded to the online platform can be shown on the screen at the trading center.
The digitalization is an anti-counterfeiting measure to protect the local produce. Wild songrong from Yajiang is a fungus highly coveted by foodies for its distinct aromatic flavor. However, some artificially-bred fungi are presented as wild, which deceives consumers and impedes the development of authentic Yajiang songrong.
This year, all the Yajiang songrong will be traded at the new trading center and tracked online to guarantee authenticity.
Yajiang is home to Chinese songrong by virtue of a large quantity of wild fungus growing in the primary forest. A number of locals make a living by picking songrong. Thus far, the industry has been estimated 265 million yuan, accounting for at least 20 percent of the production nationwide.
Though simple to harvest, songrong are hard to plant because of their specific growth requirements and the rarity of appropriate forest and terrain, combined with competition from wild animals such as squirrels, rabbits and deer. The rarity has it considered "the king of fungus" in Asia.
Yajiang is a high-altitude county with an average temperature of 11 degrees Celsius. Its forest is shrouded with mist all year around. Such moisture and moderate temperatures provide an ideal environment for growing songrong.
The price for songrong is highly dependent on natural conditions each year. The county suffered forest fires in March, which has impacted the harvest season this summer. After months of natural restoration, the yield is expected to reach 90 percent of that in 2023.
According to government guidance, songrong measuring from 5 to 7 centimeters are priced around 270 yuan per kilogram, while those from 7 to 12 centimeters are priced between 360 to 520 yuan per kilogram.
A new trade center has been built to market pine mushrooms, or songrong.
"The output was big last year," Li said. "Therefore, tons of songrong were dried and frozen. Prices will fluctuate as long as the processed songrong enters the market. We recommend people purchase in late August as the market is going to stabilize then."
Li has been picking songrong for over 20 years. To cash in on the livestream trend, she is now selling her produce on Douyin and WeChat, which has been successful.
To build the brand, the Yajiang government has opened an online flagship store on the JD.com shopping platform. All the freshly picked songrong are delivered by the fastest SF Express and Jingdong Logistics, which ensures their freshness and taste.
Agriculture has always been the priority in Hangzhou's pairing assistance. In 2021, Hangzhou forged business partnerships with 12 counties in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, and six counties in Guangyuan City of Sichuan Province. Professionals and civil servants have been dispatched to coordinate with local departments in promoting local produce.
Hangzhou's Gongshu District built poultry and herb farms in tandem with Guangyuan's Zhaohua District. Juicy fruit, fresh vegetables, and other common herbs are planted on the farm. In collaboration with retailers in Hangzhou, sales channels have been created to provide Hangzhou people with organic products from the assisted farms.
