My visit to Dali University, Yunnan,
China, as Visiting Professor….. Part-6
We
visited Yunnan Mushroom World
Biotechnology Co Ltd. in Kunming, China
On
completion of my 2-week brief assignment of Visiting Professorship at the Institute
of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity, College of Agriculture & Biotechnology,
Dali University, Yunnan, China, I and my wife got readied to return to India,
end of August 2017. Besides our routine luggage, our bags were filled with packets
of green tea of varied taste. I was singularly fascinated sipping multitude
varieties of green tea in China. Prof Su patiently explained the subtle
differences of these exotic varieties of teas, in colour, taste and aroma, the
prime of these being the ‘Puerh Tea’. I believe Puerh tea, fermented by a native
strain of Aspergillus acidus, is
produced only in Yunnan Province, China…
A
couple of days before, our friend Mr Zonglong informed that Dr. Qi Zhao
(nicknamed Papaya) who was earlier a research student at Mae Fah Luang
University, Chiang Rai, Thailand and presently a successful mushroom
entrepreneur in Kunming desired that we visit his mushroom farm on our way back
home. I tried to figure out the face of this person from my memory box and
realised the brief interactions that I had with Papaya in Chiang Rai. Invitation to visit to a mushroom cultivation
centre, my excitement automatically rose beyond boundaries……
Thanking
Prof Su and her students, we left Dali by car at 9:00 am. Pleasant weather and
the same Dali-Kunming 6-lane motorway; we reached Kunming at 1:30 pm. Nearing the
city, the cab drove us straight to ‘Yunnan Mushroom World Biotechnology Co.
Ltd.’, located in the outskirts of city of Kunming, on the bank of Dianchi
Lake, another large highland lake in Yunnan Province. As we entered the
Mushroom Farm, Papaya received us with a broad smile and warm handshake. He profusely
thanked me and my wife for accepting his invitation and took us straight to the
dining hall where his wife had arranged an elaborate lunch, main items being
varied types of mushrooms freshly harvested from his farm.
It
was a hot-pot lunch on a revolving dining table fitted with many induction
plates. The hot-pot in front of us had noodles in boiling water to which
curry-ingredients were added. Dr Jack, another old student of MFU and friend, joined
us for lunch. Papaya assisted us to put sliced vegetables and different types
of mushrooms which included Auricularia
fuscosuccinea, Morchella sextelata, Phallus indisiatus, Pleurotus eryngii,
Tremella aurentialba and tofu into the hot-pot. We ate plenty of mushrooms
and tofu and it was indeed a memorable lunch. My experience eating mushrooms
has so far been limited only to or button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) which is very common in India.
After
this luxurious mushroom meal and lots of green tea, we set out to Papaya’s
mushroom farm. It is a newly set-up, one-year old, high-tech, temperature-humidity-controlled
mushroom cultivation centre, spread over a few acres area. I was fascinated
seeing his diligence, ingenuity and organisational skills in running the
system. Everything operated like a clock in his farm, for time and speed.
Mushroom cultivation is not an easy task; it’s a very sensitive crop. The
mushroom strains used for large-scale cultivation by Papaya are his own
collections from the wild and subsequently domesticated and improved by him.
Mostly subtropical species, he harvests a sizable crop which amounts to a few
tons per week and is sold either fresh or processed. I was spell bound watching
the large-scale cultivation of ear mushroom (Auricularia), oyster mushroom (Pleurotus),
cauliflower mushroom (Tremella) and
bracket mushroom (Ganoderma) in his
farm. Seeing Papaya’s firm is a great learning. Driving to the city of Kunming
in the evening, he hosted us a dinner, before parting. I and my wife thanked him for his hospitality
and wished best of luck in his future adventures.
We
spent some time with our good friend Dr Sam, a specialist in macrofungi working
in Kunming Institute of Technology, who came specially to see us...! End of the
day, I felt deeply happy and blissfully contented seeing these many young, highly
talented, dynamic, mycologists from different Asian countries with whom friendship
blossomed following my academic visits to Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand,
and College of Agriculture & Biotechnology, Dali University, China.
Next
day, Mr Zonglong, who saw that we were taken care of so well all through, escorted
us to Kunming International airport from where we flew back to Delhi and Goa.... The
excitement and joy derived of academic interactions with students of mycology whom I met,
places seen, foods tasted, knowledge gained and above all human values earned
during this brief trip to Dali University are truly remarkable and profoundly huge......
Yunnan
Mushroom World Biotechnology Co Ltd. in Kunming, China
Mushroom-based lunch at Mushroom World...
Mushroom menu
Taking lunch with Dr. Qi Zhao (Papaya), Mr Zonglong and Dr Jack
With my friend, Dr. Qi Zhao (Papaya) at Mushroom World
Cultivation of bracket fungus (Ganoderma)
Cultivation of cauliflower mushroom (Tremella aurentialba)
Cultivation of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii)
Harvest ear mushroom (Auricularia fuscosuccinea)
On the bank of Dianchi Lake in Kunming
Beautiful Kunming International airport
D. Jayarama Bhat
(Concluded)
