Thai is an only child whose father works at a hospital in Thot Not and mother trades at a market. After graduating from high school, Thai passed the entrance to Can Tho University.

Upon graduation, the young man from Tan Loc islet easily secured a job at a bank. After seven years working as a bank officer while taking on extra jobs, Thai earned around $2,000 monthly and lived a life many would envy.

However, driven by a passion for agriculture and a desire to build wealth from his homeland, Thai decided to quit his job to grow black termite mushrooms.

“I noticed that natural termite mushrooms are rare, appearing only during the rainy season, priced over VND1 million per kg, and highly nutritious. I read many international articles about cultivating black termite mushrooms, researched further, and became fascinated,” Thai said.

In 2021, he visited and studied mushroom farms across various regions. In 2023, Thai tried his cultivation with 200 black termite mushroom spawns, but failed due to disease. Undeterred, the Can Tho native researched further and tried again with 300 spawns, yet still faced failure.

After these setbacks, he gained valuable experience and decided to lease land in the city center, expanding his cultivation area with over 7,000 mushroom spawns.

Thai grows black termite mushrooms in a closed-loop system using panel materials, equipped with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to automatically control temperature, humidity, and lighting. This ensures stable mushroom growth.

Thanks to technology and a standard growing environment, mushrooms grow evenly, have beautiful colors, encounter limited disease and require less care. 

“The entire system is controlled remotely via phone, almost completely automated," Thai said.

Thai has quit his bank job to focus entirely on mushroom farming.

“Growing mushrooms with high technology, my farm significantly reduces labor and care time since everything is automated,” Thai said. When parameters are off, the system alerts his phone, allowing timely adjustments.

According to Thai, technology boosts mushroom yields by 30-40 percent compared to traditional methods. Over 65 percent of the mushrooms are top-grade, large, well-shaped, and visually appealing.

Black termite mushroom spawns take 20-25 days from planting to harvest, peaking around 30 days. The harvest lasts for 4-5 months.

“With 7,000 spawns per crop, my farm yields about 1.75 tons of mushrooms. Selling prices range from VND200,000 to VND300,000 per kg.

“The market for my mushrooms is stable, supplying restaurants, wholesale markets, traditional markets, organic or ‘clean’-food stores, and direct consumers,” he said.

Thanh Minh