In a quiet suburb north of Tanzania's Dar es Salaam, morning mist hovers low over a plot of land where rows of green Juncao grass glisten with dew. Joel Bisoma, a 29-year-old Tanzanian, steps carefully between the rows, inspecting the growth of what he has sown. A few meters away, under a shaded structure, dozens of mushroom bags hang in silence, nurturing what he calls "nature's quiet medicine."
Bisoma is the founder of GreenFungi Limited, a company he established after discovering the potential of Juncao -- a Chinese-developed technology that uses specially cultivated grass to grow edible and medicinal mushrooms.
In a country where sustainable agriculture is more of a necessity than a choice, Juncao offers something rare: a low-cost, high-yield system that is both environmentally friendly and locally manageable, said Bisoma.
He was first introduced to the idea in 2022 during a training session organized by Sokoine University of Agriculture. Back then, he was still growing mushrooms using sawdust. The commonly used but risky substrate requires constant supplementation and is prone to contamination, especially when the sawdust comes from chemically treated wood.
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