Karst caves transform into agricultural bases in southwest China's Guizhou

Luo Jiling has been familiar with the cave near her home since childhood and now works at a modern agricultural base in it.

This karst cave in Xinping Village, Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, is more than 300 meters long and covers an area of over 8,000 square meters.

The cave is being used to grow mushrooms. Song Zihao, a village leader, said last year's trial proved a success and villagers have decided to scale up mushroom production this year.

Mushrooms are usually grown in greenhouses, which consume lots of water and electricity resources due to temperature and humidity adjustments.

Pingtang County, typical of karst terrain, boasts nearly 400 large caves. Song's village has thus opted for a cave to develop agricultural industries and conserve arable land.

"Caves are natural greenhouses for mushrooms," said Song, who added that the temperature in the cave usually remains at between 12 and 20 degrees Celsius, without the need for air conditioning, while mountain springs can be directly used for humidity regulation by employing suitable spray equipment.

In addition, the caves are well ventilated and those facing either directly north or south can avoid direct sunlight, Song added.

Eyeing the very suitable natural conditions of the cave, a company invested in cultivating 5,000 mushroom sticks during the trial period. The outcome proved very pleasing with mushrooms bursting out of the sticks in the space of just one month.

Luo, a temporary worker hired by the company for the trial, noted the success and decided to work full-time.

"The mushrooms grow well here, and can be sold at a decent price," Luo said confidently.

This year, the village has grown 170,000 mushroom sticks and can increase its scale to 350,000 sticks at full load. More than 100 households in the village are expected to benefit from it, according to Song.

Meanwhile, in another village named Xinying under Datang Township in Pingtang County, caves were filled with brown clay pots, which contained wine brewed by local ethnic Miao people.

Mountain spring water is used in the process of making this wine and the wine needs to be stored in the cave for more than a year after sterilization and sealing.

According to Wang Guoxian, a local wine-brewing expert, stable temperature and humidity are key to producing and making good wine.

Average annual cave wine output in Datang has amounted to more than 50 tonnes to date, with an average annual output value of over 2 million yuan (about 278,000 U.S. dollars).

In addition to wine and mushrooms, the county has also used caves to develop tourism -- receiving hundreds of batches of tourists every year, according to the local government.