The post-80s village cadres "draw" pictures of mushrooms to become rich.

Wang Xuedong, post-80s, the person in charge of Lingxiang Flower Mushroom planting Cooperative in Lingxiang Township, Daye City, was once a top student of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts.

From this land to the city, and from the city to the countryside.

He had a dream in his heart: to lead the simple villagers to shake off poverty and become rich.

One day in late December 2015, Wang Xuedong held a sample gift box at the mushroom planting base. This is the exquisite packaging specially designed by him for flower mushrooms.

Put down the brush and learn to grow mushrooms.

In 2012, Wang Xuedong worked as the head of the development department in a clothing enterprise in Guangzhou with a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan.

He resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown of Daye, took part in the examination for the selection of cadres in the province's university student village, and became deputy secretary of the party branch of Hepu Village, Ling Township.

He said: drifting outside, he is still thinking about his hometown in Hubei, which is thousands of miles away, and wants to help vulnerable groups in rural areas start a business and become rich together and realize their own value.

The cultivation of mushrooms began in 2013. At that time, when he heard that farmers in Suizhou grew shiitake mushrooms to get rich, he immediately thought that Daye and Suizhou had similar natural conditions and could also develop the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms. He decided to try it himself first, and then bring the villagers along with him after success. In June 2014, he took out all his savings and borrowed 170000 yuan to register to set up Lingxiang Mushroom Family Farm and began to grow Lentinus edodes-flower mushrooms.

Wang Xuedong went to Suizhou to study at his own expense and actively participated in relevant training. In order to save labor costs, he and his wife went up the mountain to cut bamboo and build a mushroom shed, grinding thick cocoons on their hands and leaving scars.

Pleurotus ostreatus needs to be sterilized in the process of production, and the fire should not be extinguished during sterilization. The couple kept watch 24 hours a day, and when they were sleepy, they put up a bamboo bed beside the boiler for a short rest.

Bit by bit of accumulation, so that this art "layman" gradually feel the way. In December 2014, the base finally produced 20,000 bags of mushrooms. Looking at the emergence of "umbrellas" in the bacterial bag, Wang Xuedong felt as if he had ushered in his own child who had been raised through hard work, full of joy.

Flower mushrooms are produced, how to find a market?

He took 80 jin of mushrooms to set up a stall in the town's vegetable market to try his luck. Unexpectedly, many people gathered around and said that they saw beautiful and fresh mushrooms for the first time. In just 2 hours, 80 jin of mushrooms were sold out. This is the first time for the couple to set up a stall, and they don't even know how to use the scale. Recalling the clumsy scene at that time, Wang Xuedong could not help laughing.

When all the mushrooms were sold out in that season, Wang Xuedong strengthened his original dream.

Establish a brand to test the waters of e-commerce

In April 2015, Wang Xuedong took the lead in establishing the Lingxiang Flower Mushroom planting Professional Cooperative in Daye City, serving as its own chairman. In order to help members quickly master the planting technology of flower mushrooms, the cooperative hired five full-time technicians to carry out "follow-up" training.

A good product needs a good brand. After the approval of the registered trademark of "Lingxiang Flower Mushroom", Wang Xuedong gave full play to his art expertise, personally participated in the design of gift box packaging of various products, cooperative work clothes, and compiled a guide to the operation process of flower mushroom production with both pictures and texts, striving to improve every detail.

The flower mushrooms of the cooperative are mainly produced and sold, mainly to Futian Agricultural products Wholesale Market in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. In October 2015, Wang Xuedong began experimenting with e-commerce marketing, posting the environment and work process of members planting mushrooms on Wechat, Weibo and Taobao every day, so that netizens can clearly see how these green products have grown up little by little.

With the diffraction effect of the e-commerce platform, "Lingxiang Flower Mushroom" is sold all over the country and attracts door-to-door purchases by non-local businessmen. At present, 8000 jin of fresh mushrooms and 300 jin of dried mushrooms have been pre-sold, with sales revenue reaching 130000 yuan.

The Lingxiang Flower Mushroom planting Professional Cooperative now has 35 members, with a total of 220000 bags of flower mushrooms planted in 2015, with an output value of more than 3.5 million yuan and an average household income of 90, 000 yuan.

"only by increasing the added value of agricultural products can farmers really benefit." Wang Xuedong said that in 2016, the cooperative will radiate to the surrounding villages, and its membership is expected to increase threefold. With the further increase in the production of flower mushrooms, he is contacting a local food manufacturer to purchase refrigeration equipment and jointly develop shiitake paste products.