Villagers pick morel mushrooms at a local farm in Rudong county, Nantong. [Photo/WeChat account: rudongfb]

A morel mushroom farm at Gongwang village in Dayu town, Rudong county, has adopted a unique seasonal farming model, growing morel mushrooms in winter and spring and rotating to vegetables in summer and autumn. This approach maximizes land use efficiency while increasing agricultural productivity. 

Chen Jie, a local morel mushroom producer, explained that the current crop was planted in November last year and must be harvested before May. During the May–October period, the vacated greenhouses will be used to grow vegetables such as edamame.

According to Chen, vegetables grown in former mushroom fields tend to have superior quality due to the nutrient-rich soil left behind, which also helps suppress harmful bacteria. Additionally, morel mushrooms cannot be continuously cultivated in the same plot for too many seasons, as repeated planting weakens their growth and increases the risk of pests and diseases. 

Chen sells his entire morel mushroom harvest to the dried goods wholesale market. His drying facility processes up to 1,000 kilograms of fresh mushrooms per day, with the dried mushrooms mainly distributed to Zhejiang, Shandong, and Sichuan. The yield per mu (about 0.067 hectares) generates approximately 30,000 yuan ($4,126.43) in revenue.

"Gongwang village has over 10,000 mu of farmland and is a traditional agricultural hub," said Wang Zhenhua, Party secretary of the village. Gongwang plans to establish broccoli, morel mushrooms, and loquats as its three key agricultural pillars, encouraging more farmers to participate and boosting local employment and income.