China's Zhejiang adds agricultural heritage system designated by FAO

HANGZHOU, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- East China's Zhejiang Province has received the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) recognition for its Qingyuan Forest-Mushroom Co-culture System (QFMCS), said local authorities.

The announcement was made in Rome, Italy, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Thursday (local time), making QFMCS the world's only GIAHS that mainly concerns edible fungi, according to the agricultural and rural affairs bureau of Qingyuan County, Zhejiang.

QFMCS, located in the southwestern mountainous area of Zhejiang, is an agroforestry system in the high-altitude mountainous region. It focuses on sustainable forest management and the development of the mushroom industry, as well as the cyclic utilization of resources.

Qingyuan County, rich in its forest and species resources, is the birthplace of shiitake mushroom cultivation techniques. By means of forest conservation, mushroom cultivation, and agricultural production, local residents have achieved food and livelihood security while creating the forest and mushroom co-culture technique system and achieving the harmonious co-existence between man and nature, according to the bureau.