In 2005 Lin and his team went to South Africa to help carry out the KZN project. For years, Lin Zhanxi and his and daughter would work together in the fields of KuaZulu-Natal, quite a rare sight for locals.
"Whenever I called 'Papa', the locals would laugh, some even followed suit," Lin Dongmei recalls.
Soon the father of juncao became known as Papa Juncao.
To make it easier to grow mushrooms, Lin simplified the method - just pouring five buckets of water on the mushroom beds each day.
And in seven days, the farmers had a crop Thus they could gather mushrooms all year round. However, the greater challenge lay in changing local conventions and establishing new management models.
"To our surprise," says Lin, "farmland there is still collectively run, everyone's eating from the same big pot, just as in China before the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978."
Lin and his team managed to divide the growing plot into different sections and transfer land to individuals.
Since 2006, Lin has explored the flagship site model in KNZ's Kwadindi that produces raw materials, markets produce and recycles. It is supported by a juncao demonstration base and operated by a cooperative consisting of the poorest of the poor.
According to Lin Dongmei's notes, Ms Nozipho Precious Ngcobo from Kwadindi planted 5 square meters on August 11, 2007; 13 days later she collected 82.6 kilograms of fresh mushrooms.
Generally speaking, a farmer with a 10-square-meter plot can earn 24,000 rand (US$3,240) to 32,000 rand a year, double the ordinary income of locals, Lin says.
KZN now has five such flagship sites and the local government plans to build 15 more at a cost of around 5 million rand each.
"The model has been transplanted and improved upon from the poverty-relief model we applied successfully in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region," says Lin.
The KZN government has invested more than 100 million rand to develop the juncao industry, so far the province's largest agricultural project.
Lin and his team are undertaking a more ambitious project in Fiji, a small South Pacific island country they visited last month.
"The starting location is perfect," says Lin. "It's as large as a football field and only a kilometer from the international airport. We're also going to set up our own enterprises, including a juncao mushroom restaurant."
Lin says it's another important project financed by the Chinese government, aiming to develop the juncao industry from scratch in Fiji. The aim is for the industry to account for more than 20 percent of Fiji's agricultural output in 10 years.
In Fiji, Lin and his team plan to cultivate mushrooms both indoors and outdoors in natural conditions, using the shade of mango trees to keep the temperature down.
Lin has traveled to 29 countries, mostly poor developing nations, to promote juncao technology.
"The poor countries need me more," says Lin.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
