Ensconced at the digital control center of an intelligent mushroom farm in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Feng Heng monitors data flashing across a massive screen — data that enables the farm to deliver 50 times the yield of traditional cropland.

"Many people believe farming depends on the weather. Here, it depends on data," said Feng, plant manager of Chengdu Finc Biotechnology Co, one of the world's largest intelligent mushroom farms.

In partnership with multinational technology company Huawei's innovation center, the company has built an intelligent, digital management platform that connects all workshops via the internet of things to enable big-data analysis and intelligent regulation. It allows real-time monitoring and precise control of over 100 parameters, from temperature and humidity to carbon dioxide concentration. This means that regardless of the weather outside — rain, snow, or hail — the delicate mushrooms can thrive undisturbed inside the workshops.

"Digitalization means better quality, higher output and lower costs," Feng said. "Here, a single cultivation room produces about 25 metric tons of mushrooms in a growing cycle of 21 days. The whole farm boasts 90 such rooms operating year-round, with annual output exceeding 35,000 tons at full capacity."

The land-use efficiency is staggering. The farm's 13.3 hectares of factory-style cultivation produce as much as 667 hectares of traditional farmland. In the packaging workshop, fresh mushrooms glide along conveyor belts, where workers expertly sort and pack them.

Labels on the boxes tell different stories. Some are bound for local supermarkets in Chengdu, while others are destined for overseas markets, making their way onto foreign shelves via international cold-chain trains. From the Chengdu International Railway Port, boxes of white beech mushrooms travel directly to destinations such as the Netherlands and Vietnam.

"From the day we chose Chengdu, we were ready to tap into the global market," Feng said, underscoring the city's strategic advantage as a rail hub connecting China to Europe and other parts of Asia. "In the past, these mushrooms were shipped by sea to Southeast Asian markets, a journey that took the better part of a month. Now, they travel by train from the railway port 10 kilometers away, reaching destinations in just seven days. For fresh mushrooms with a shelf life of only 40 days, those seven days are our competitive edge."

Official data shows that by the end of last year, the Chengdu International Railway Port had built a multimodal logistics network connecting over 130 cities overseas, with routes extending westward to Europe, northward to Mongolia and Russia, eastward to Japan and South Korea and southward to Southeast Asian countries.

Mushrooms from Feng's intelligent farm are now sold in 57 countries and regions. Around 70 percent are exported to key markets including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States and the European Union. Last year, the company's mushroom exports surpassed 13,460 tons, up 45 percent from the previous year.

The case of this intelligent farm reflects a broader shift in China's agricultural sector, where digital and smart technologies are rapidly transforming agriculture.

According to statistics from the China Commercial Industry Research Institute in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China's smart agriculture market grew from 62.2 billion yuan ($9 billion) in 2020 to approximately 105 billion yuan in 2024, representing an average annual growth rate of 14 percent. The market scale is estimated to reach 120 billion yuan for 2025.

Authorities in Chengdu's Qingbaijiang district, home to the Chengdu International Railway Port, said they will support leading urban agriculture firms such as Chengdu Finc to expand production this year.

They also plan to invest in infrastructure projects to upgrade the railway hub, strengthening its storage and transport capacity and enhancing cold-chain container facilities, to better position the hub for growth.

A complete industrial chain for rare edible mushrooms, spanning spawn cultivation, intelligent production, cold-chain logistics and international trade, is taking shape in the district, authorities said.

pengchao@chinadaily.com.cn