Intelligent indoor farming helps scale up edible mushroom production in Zhejiang

Intelligent technologies are helping mushroom producers in east China to scale up their operations, creating growing environments that can ensure year-round production and even yield varieties that would otherwise not be possible in the region. The indoor vertical mushroom farms in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, are able to maintain constant temperature, humidity, and a low light conditions required for various species. The technology has significantly raised annual yields enoki, a long, thin mushroom that is popular across China.

"By introducing advanced digital production equipment, we have achieved year-round production, yielding an annual output of more than 20,000 tonnes of enoki mushrooms," said Xiong Houqiang, a technician at Zhejiang Junyuan Biotechnology Company Limited.

The innovations have allowed growers to produce many kinds of mushrooms that would never grow outdoors in Zhejiang. In China, porcini mushrooms mainly grow seasonally in the plateau of the southwestern province of Yunnan, but now these technologies help companies in the Zhejiang Province to produce this golden and plump variety.

In 2025, the edible mushroom industry in Quzhou achieved an annual output of of 49,100 tonnes thanks to these advancements.

Intelligent indoor farming helps scale up edible mushroom production in Zhejiang

A chick of the Eurasian eagle owl, a species under second-class state protection in China, was rescued recently by a border police officer in Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

While on patrol, the officer spotted the young owl lying helpless under a tree by the roadside. The chick, covered in soft yellowish-brown down, was unable to fly.

Worrying that the little bird might be injured or starved after falling from the tree, the officer gently took it back to the police station. Following guidance from wildlife experts, the chick was fed with water and meat to help it regain strength.

After fully recovered, the young Eurasian eagle owl was successfully released back into the wild.

The Eurasian eagle owl is one of the largest species of owls. It can be found in habitats as diverse as northern coniferous forests to the edge of vast deserts.

Rare baby Eurasian eagle owl rescued in northwest China's Xinjiang