In recent years, Sancun Township in Honghe County has been actively exploring and innovating agricultural planting models with the goal of increasing agricultural efficiency and farmers' income. Making full use of the ecological environment and resource advantages of Tea gardens, they have adopted a three-dimensional ecological tea garden model by intercropping mulukuit mushrooms within the tea gardens. This approach not only achieves mutual benefits among crops but also opens up new avenues for local residents to increase their income and injects new vitality into rural industrial development.

Residents of Sancun Township cultivating mulukuit mushroom mycelium

In the tea plantation demonstration base of Sancun Township, neatly arranged tea plants are interspersed with mulukuit mushroom bags distributed in an orderly manner. Farmers skillfully perform a series of intercropping operations such as ridge-making, transportation, opening, planting, and covering the soil.

“In the past, our tea garden's income mainly relied on tea, which was quite monotonous. Now, with the support of the Party Committee and the government, we have effectively utilized the space in our tea gardens for intercropping mulukuit mushrooms, improving land utilization and creating new sources of income for the people. We believe this will bring considerable economic benefits to more people,” said Duan Zhongzhe, Deputy Secretary of the Sancun Village Party Branch.

Currently, over 100 acres of mulukuit mushrooms have been planted using the soil-covering method across the township. Intercropping mulukuit mushrooms in tea gardens makes full use of the idle space in the gardens. Given that the growth cycle of mulukuit mushrooms is relatively short, it can generate income for farmers within a short period, complementing the growth and harvesting seasons of tea.

(Yang Tianlong and Duan Fajin)