Yunnan: Home of Edible Fungi/Mushrooms in China

Yunnan province produced 398,000 tons of edible fungi in 2014, among which 80,000 tons were grown in the wild, accounting for 70 percent of the total number of wild mushrooms harvested in China, according to the Yunnan Provincial Agriculture Bureau.

The province in Southwest China produced 1.27 million tons of edible fungi from 2007 to 2014, valuing in excess of 37.59 billion yuan ($6.06 billion). The fungi was sold to the United States, France, Germany and other countries, generating foreign exchange revenue of 857 million US dollars, ranking the food fourth behind tobacco, coffee and vegetables in terms of revenue generation.

Leng Hua, vice head of the Agriculture Bureau, said that Yunnan has hundreds of enterprises engaging in the process of fungi collection, processing and selling. Farmers from more than 30,000 households were also involved with the fungi business.

Thanks to its complex terrain and various climates, Yunnan is home to 882 species of edible fungi. It is rich in pine mushroom, Tremella aurantialba, Bandoni et Zang, Boletus edulis, among other types of fungi that have special taste and health protection characteristics.

To better develop the fungi industry, the provincial government began to allocate 10 million yuan annually since 2009 to protect the environment, develop research, build processing and logistics chains, helping more than 300 enterprises.