Key Points
- Researchers say Australia can capitalise on Asian mushroom farming and combat climate change.
- Australia’s high productivity and automation can make Asian mushrooms cheaper: experts.
- Funding for agritech and innovation is currently a challenge for farmers like Simon Tang.
On Australia’s only Asian mushroom farm in Queensland, Simon Tang has been looking at every opportunity to modernise growth.
Some time ago, substrates (the base or bed on which organisms grow) for mushroom cultivation came from China. But now, they come from a neighbouring sugar mill in Bundaberg.
This has helped Mr Tang overcome the supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic.
As a result of his collaboration with researchers based in Queensland and the funding received from CSIRO earlier this year, it has become possible to convert a neighbouring sugar mill’s biomass into substrates.
This is where Australia now gets its very own locally-produced exotic mushroom varieties like enoki, abalone and apricot, for which Asian countries such as Japan, China and Thailand are best known.
He said around 70 per cent of Asian mushrooms sold in Australia are imported with retail costs of $30 per kilo for shiitake and enoki varieties.
“This (partnership) reduces our reliance on international trade,” Mr Tang told SBS Chinese from one of his two factories in Park Ridge, Brisbane.
Chinese-born Australian mushroom grower Simon Tang secured larger-scale federal government funding to prove the viability of sugarcane bagasse as a substrate to produce Asian mushroom. Credit: SBS Chinese/Tianyuan Qu
Asian mushrooms grown and sold locally using Australian substrates are 10 to 15 per cent cheaper than their imported equivalents, according to Mr Tang.
He said his recent collaboration with CSIRO has also opened up the possibility of exporting packaged mushrooms.
“Our plan is that once the whole chain is up and running, it is possible to export our mushrooms to neighbouring countries including New Zealand and Papua New Guinea,” Mr Tang added.
The bigger picture
Now, other researchers like Zhanying Zhang, associate professor at Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy, are also hoping to get on board with Kenon for even bigger applications of this use case of sugarcane biomass.
Sugarcane bagasse is used as mushroom substrate at Simon Tang's Queensland farm. Credit: SBS Chinese/Tianyuan Qu
Australia can use its abundance of agricultural biomass to subsidise food production costs.Prof Zhanying Zhang
“In China, sugarcane fibre is usually converted to other products such as paper or pulp, whereas in Australia, the process would create very significant contamination,” Prof Zhang said.
Instead, a portion of sugarcane bagasse is burned for generation of electricity but where there are large sugar mills, there’s a surplus and the industry often stockpiles it, he explained.
This presents possible safety and environmental risks such as spontaneous combustion and dust emissions, exposing sugar factory workers and surrounding communities, Prof Zhang added.
If we can use agricultural biomass to grow mushrooms, that’s a win-win.Prof Zhanying Zhang
Flexible smartroom mushroom containers for growing and transporting trays of mushrooms are also being considered for future production.
These containers can be distributed overseas where growth conditions can be controlled from anywhere, said Prof Zhang.
Flexible smartroom mushroom containers could be exported and growing conditions controlled remotely by Australian producers. Credit: Simon Tang
The team at Queensland University of Technology also want to produce mushroom "meat" and shiitake mushroom snacks that are currently being imported into Australia and sold in some supermarkets.
"That’s a very hot research direction," Prof Zhang said.
If we can use other resources to produce meat, that would help to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.Prof Zhang
The Australian Mushroom Growers' Association has acknowledged the domestic growth of the consumer demand for exotic mushrooms.
"Five years ago, you had to go to a specialised Asian supermarket for shiitake, enoki and wood ear. Now, they’re available at my local IGA," said general manager Leah Bramich.
Ms Bramich agrees locally grown varieties would have great export potential.
“Any product marketed overseas as an Australian grown has promise because Australia is seen as a beautiful, lush and green country," Ms Bramwich said.
Kenon is Australia's largest producer of Asian mushrooms. Credit: SBS Chinese/Tianyuan Qu
She said she wholeheartedly believed that mushroom is the way of the future.
"There’s nothing bad in a mushroom. It’s extremely good for you.
"Mushroom being a very sustainable food, they can grow very quickly on a small amount of land, using very little resources and recycled substrate."
Hurdles in securing funding for R&D
Back on his farm, Mr Tang said he was “surprised” when he first got a call that the government funding to turn sugarcane bagasse into a mushroom substrate was approved, attributing the fate to “luck”.
We also mentioned that the new plant would add 40 to 50 jobs, which was welcomed by the government.Simon Tang
Prof Zhang added that previously, Australia had very limited resources for research and the focus was on other areas.
“Now we’re more focused on solving the biomass problem and global decarbonisation. The government is investing more in this area and companies also see opportunities,” he said.
His team is also interested in exploring the country’s indigenous varieties of mushrooms which may help “improve Australia’s regional development”.
However, the success rate of applications for research grants and funding can be “very low”, he added.
One example is the Australian Research Council’s Industry Fellowships to tackle critical industry challenges, in which during the last funding round, the success rate was a mere eight per cent.
Funding challenges
At CSIRO, Futures Services Economics Manager Liu Mingji and his team look at food systems and how Australia can better distribute, grow and sell food.
CQU former vice president Helen Huntly, Senator Bridget McKenzie, Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt and Kenon Corporation owner Simon Tang at the announcement of a new mushroom farm and factory in Bundaberg.
The OECD average in 2019-2020 was 2.5 per cent.
“We’re actually seeing over time that the average OECD spending is going up as a proportion of the GDP while Australia is trailing behind,” said Mr Liu.
It’s a concern when you contrast us against where other advanced economies are going. We’re seeing greater focus on innovation spending in the US and the UK.Liu Mingji
“The overall concern is that we want to stay on the cutting edge … and a big part of that is keeping up the overall investment in science,” he added.
Mr Liu said it potentially is almost a structural problem with how a lot of scientific activity is being done globally.
He said there’s room to rethink the way scientists innovate, such as faster grant systems.
Kenon wanted to explore ways of growing exotic mushroom varieties such as oyster, enoki and pearl in Australia without the need to continue importing spores and substrates. Credit: SBS Chinese/Tianyuan Qu
He said there’s more room for funders to take risk with spending on R&D by thinking more like a venture capital firm and taking a portfolio approach.
“It’s very seductive to just look at a single research project and ask what its likely return and impact [could be],” Mr Liu said.
“They are spending money on a hundred different projects and they know that 99 of them can be losers but if they can just get one winner, they will earn back all their money,” he added.
