Closely examining the quality of a crop, Li Yu gets to work at an edible mushroom farm. [Photo/Jilin Daily]

Li Yu, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a champion of national poverty alleviation, attended the 12th CPC Jilin Provincial Congress – opening in Changchun city, in Northeast China's Jilin province – on June 19.

Li has introduced scientific and technological principles to the edible mushroom industry, in so doing helping more than 35,000 poor households in more than 800 villages in China to escape poverty.

He often pointed out the importance of the edible mushroom industry in poverty alleviation. He led a team to visit more than 40 deeply impoverished areas across the country and taught planting techniques in places including Hebei province's Fuping county, Anhui province's Jinzhai county and Shanxi province's Linxian county. 

Li Yu has helped spread edible mushroom production technology to all parts of the country. He has also promoted the creation of 31 edible mushroom technology promotion bases and supported the development of 22 leading mushroom-producing companies. 

Over the years, he has established a brand-new system for mushroom classification by continuously researching their resources and has established a scientific model for mushrooms. That's led to a large number of research people emerging in the field.