Xixia mushrooms gain reputation as world's best

China Edible Fungi Association honors Xixia county as the "top mushroom production area" during the 2016 Chinese Edible Fungi Expo on Nov 26. [Photo/dahe.cn]

Nov 26 was a landmark for the mushroom industry in Xixia county of Nanyang, as the China Edible Fungi Association honored Xixia-produced mushrooms as the world's best during the 2016 Chinese Edible Fungi Expo.

More than 600 experts and enterprises from the domestic fungi industry and from foreign countries including Russia, South Korea, Japan, Canada and Italy attended the expo, exchanging research ideas on fungi cultivation and promoting related cooperation projects.

Fungi experts and enterprisers attend the expo. [Photo/dahe.cn]

As many as 72 domestic and foreign companies have signed cooperation contracts with Xixia, a total investment of 5.3 billion yuan ($776 million).

After the expo, a group of experts and enterprisers visited the fungi production base at Xixia's Shuanglong township.

A group of experts and enterprisers visited the fungi production base in Xixia's Shuanglong township. [Photo/dahe.cn]

The base's production system impressed the group, with Korea enterpriser Piao noting that, "The scientific management and advanced technology the base has adapted are worth learning."

As a hometown of mushrooms, Xixia's mushroom industry has continued to prosper over the past decade. Statistics show that Xixia has exported mushrooms totaling at a value of $80 million in 2015, 100 times more than the $109,000  of 2006.