Motuno Chares, a 54-year-old farmer living in Henganofi district, said that he took a truck with some fellows early in the morning and spent one hour on the bumpy road before arriving at the base.

"I grow coffee, cassava and sweet potato to make a living, and my wife does some sewing. Though we work hard, our income is still low. Farm products such as cassava are hard to sell as the market is small. I hope I can learn how to cultivate mushrooms with Juncao technologies. People here like mushrooms, and the price is good," Chares said.

Among the group of visitors were some indigenous women. Priscilla Tonny from Kosionte village of Henganofi district was one of them.

The 34-year-old housewife has two sons and one daughter. "I understand that Juncao can be cut into pieces to feed chicken and goats, and I'm sure that I can master the technology using Juncao tubes to cultivate mushrooms," she said.

Lin said that villagers were always welcome to exchange Juncao tubes from the base with fresh Juncao that they grow.

Timothy Ukii, 48, works as a project official at the Eco-enterprise Division of Natural Resources under the EHP Administration.

"By this way, the Juncao technology can be spread and the program would be sustainable. And the Chinese are helping us to build more technology bases," said Ukii.

Amazingly, Juncao, which is also called by local villagers in EHP as "Lin Grass", can easily grow to about five meters high in EHP, much higher than those in other places. Lin said the gifted fertile soil and good weather conditions here might be the key.