Photo: Linh Dung farm owner in his red lingzhi garden which is ready for harvest

The owner of Linh Dung farm, PhD Nguyen Hong Yen, wants to popularise his lingzhi mushroom which is cultivated using organic method. In fact, the mushroom can only survive in natural and non-chemical environment. Any chemical intervention from the grower can kill the plant.

 Yen said that there are six kinds of lingzhi mushrooms and the identification is made based on their colour. He selected red lingzhi to plant on a trial basis under the technical transfer of Nguyen Tien Ky from the institute of science and technology research, training and counseling under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations.

 In preparation for the garden, the grower had to prepare materials a couple of months earlier (mostly in the outset of the year), dig ditches and raise beds for the mushroom. Soil in the beds must be replaced by "lim” sawdust purchased from wood logging businesses. The end of April was the most ideal time for spreading substrate on the sawdust. After that, the substrate will be covered with another layer of sawdust.

Notably, for successful testing plantation, the owner had to mix sawdust with lime to prevent fungal infections before planting the mushroom. The mixture was made from 20-30 kilogrammes of lime per one ton of sawdust. In an area of 300 square metresfor mushroom plantation, he used four tonnes of sawdust.

The technique is not that hard to follow, Yen affirmed, adding that it requires suitable humidity for the mushroom to develop well, which should be maintained at 80-90 percent in the air and around 60-70 percent inside the substrate. It is also essential to use lime (calcium hydroxide) to treat sawdust in order to prevent diseases for the mushroom.

 With 1,000 mushroom kits supplied by the institute of science and technology research, training and counseling, the Linh Dung Farm had its first harvests at the end of June or 60 days after cultivating. After the mushrooms were dried under sunlight for several days using quite complicated methods, they were packed or steeped in wine. Yen said he has harvested about 10 kgof dried lingzhi from the first crop, which fetched about 1.7 million VND per kg. Yen has invested over 30 million VND to buy the 1,000 mushroom kits, so he believed he would recover the investment on the second crop which will be ready for harvest in a month. The mushroom can be harvested 4-5 times a year for a period of at least 4-5 years.

 Tests by the Instituteof Medicinal Materials in HCM Cityshowed lingzhi grown in the farm was free of harmful residues and bacteria.

 The farm owner is brimming with hope, and plans to purchase 2,000 more lingzhi growing kits to expand production. At present, the farm does not have enough mushrooms to sell.

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