From Poverty to Prosperity: Mushroom Cultivation Lights Up Rural Revitalization in Chongqing’s Xiehe Village

Recently, the morel cultivation base in Xiehe Village, Nixi Town, Yunyang County, Chongqing, has been bustling with activity. Plump and tender morels poke out of the soil one after another, as villagers shuttle between the mushroom ridges, carefully picking, sorting and packing the harvest. This lively scene tells a story of a former poor villager who turned small morels into a thriving industry, driving his fellow villagers towards prosperity, according to Chongqing Daily.

Huang Jingxuan, a 40-year-old villager in Xiehe Village, is the driving force behind this transformation. The over 13-hectare morel base was built by him and his fellow villagers with sheer hard work. More than a decade ago, the land here was barren and desolate. "Xiehe Village is remote, with thin soil and a small population, and there was no decent industry," Huang recalled. He and his wife worked outside for years, but returned to the village in 2013 to take care of his aging parents and school-age children. That year, his family was identified as a registered poor household.

In the first few years back home, Huang tried growing corn and raising pigs, but these small-scale efforts barely brought in any income. A turning point came when agricultural experts invited by the village gave a lecture on morels, explaining that the fungus is delicious, valuable and particularly suitable for high-altitude areas. "It was like a light went on in my heart—I thought growing morels would be better than working outside," Huang said.

No one in the village had grown morels before, and Huang hesitated for a long time, knowing the fungus is delicate and requires high technical skills. In 2023, he plucked up the courage to plant 1 hectare of morels. He spent almost every day in the fields, learning from technicians to avoid mistakes. At the end of the year, he sold morels for over 50,000 yuan, but barely made a profit after deducting costs. His family urged him to give up, but Huang was more determined: "We proved it can be grown here; we just need to improve the techniques to make it profitable."

In 2024, Huang wanted to expand his planting scale but faced a shortage of funds. Fortunately, village cadres told him about a microcredit policy supporting poor households in developing industries. He took out a 50,000-yuan loan and expanded his planting area to 1.3 hectares. He and his wife tended to the fields meticulously every day, monitoring temperature and humidity, and even rushing to the greenhouses in the middle of the night during storms. Their efforts paid off—they earned a net profit of over 80,000 yuan from a gross income of more than 140,000 yuan that year.

With two years of experience, Huang was confident enough to lead his fellow villagers. He initiated a professional cooperative, and the village committee supported him by coordinating land transfer. This year, the cooperative expanded the planting area to over 13 hectares. According to Global Network, morels thrive in high-altitude areas with suitable climates, and the yield and quality in Xiehe Village are particularly good. The cooperative’s sales are expected to reach around 3 million yuan this year, driving more than 20 villagers to find jobs at their doorstep.

Nixi Town has identified morel cultivation as a key characteristic industry, providing solid support in technical training, credit financing and land transfer. "The key to development is finding the right path and working hard," Huang said. "As long as you are willing to work and learn, you can make a living at home." What was once a barren land has now become a source of hope, as small morels weave a beautiful story of rural revitalization in Chongqing.