Gaoniang Town: Planting Watermelon with Morchella in a Greenhouse

Recently, in the greenhouse base of Xiaoxiaogui Village in Gaoniang Town, the greenhouse where morel is grown has presented another bumper harvest scene in the midsummer. The watermelons rotated in the greenhouse are already mature, and looking at them, the vines are lush, with lush green watermelons hidden among the vine leaves, which is very pleasing.

Different from the general melon shed, the big and small Gui greenhouse bases adopt the “morel+watermelon” rotation mode for planting, with considerable economic benefits. We planted morel mushrooms in October of the previous year and can harvest them in April of the following year. After the harvest, we promptly tilled and prepared the land, dried it for a period of time, and then transplanted watermelon seedlings. We harvested them in July. Over the course of the year, we produced around 800 kilograms of morel mushrooms per mu, 2000 kilograms of watermelon per mu, and an average income of around 40000 yuan per mu, “said Liu Li, the person in charge of the town’s agricultural service center.

The rotation of watermelon and Morchella in the base, under the careful management of technical personnel, the watermelon root system absorbs the nutrients left by the cultivation of Morchella, resulting in a thin and colorful skin, more juice and fewer seeds, fresh, sweet, and crispy taste. At the same time, it also improves the soil for planting Morchella in winter.

It is understood that Morchella likes low temperature and humidity, and is extremely sensitive to the environment. Due to the high difficulty of planting, low yield, and high market prices, it was once referred to as “soft gold” by people. One kilogram of fresh morel can be sold for about 80 yuan, and one kilogram of dried morel can be sold for about 800 yuan, “said Li Keli, a major grower at the base. Artificial cultivation of morel requires technical clearance, from strain screening, filling of nutrient bags, to temperature regulation in the cultivation room, and every step needs to be carefully managed.

The base has over 40 large greenhouses for planting morel mushrooms, with agricultural experts providing full guidance at every stage from planting to harvesting. We also invited more than 10 villagers from surrounding areas to come here to help, with each person paying 80 yuan per day and an annual labor wage of over 400000 yuan, solving the employment problem of some villagers, “said the person in charge of the base.

Next, Gaoniang Town will continue to make good use of its existing greenhouse advantages, adopt a “company+base+farmers” model, focus on developing characteristic agriculture such as “morel+watermelon”, achieve agricultural efficiency and farmers’ income, effectively assist rural revitalization, and drive more people to increase income and become rich.