Comparative advantage of Indonesian mushroom commodities in the green technology era

Mushroom is a commodity in the agricultural sector that has the potential to be developed in global trade competition. As part of the ASEAN regional cooperation institution, Indonesia can contribute to achieving excellence in mushroom commodities. Developing mushroom cultivation to support green technology innovation also helps achieve food security for future generations. This research aims to analyze and overview the comparative advantages of ASEAN with China related to mushroom commodities in 2018-2022. This research uses descriptive analysis methods and RCA-Revealed Comparative Advantage analysis in calculating the RCA of this mushroom, using HS codes 0709, 0711, and 0712. HS code 0709 represents mushroom commodities based on the sub “Fresh or chilled mushrooms of the genus “Agaricus” and Fresh or chilled edible mushrooms and truffles. The results show that China has a comparative advantage over ASEAN regarding mushroom commodities in 2018-2022. China outperforms in 3 mushroom commodity sectors in HS Codes 071159, 071151, and 071239. In comparison, ASEAN regional institutions have a low and weak level of comparative advantage in each mushroom commodity code. These results indicate that countries that are members of ASEAN pay less attention to mushroom commodities. Therefore, strategic efforts are needed to develop mushroom commodities supporting green technology innovation by prioritizing humidity control to achieve national food security goals.


Introduction
Mushrooms are one of the horticultural varieties that have the potential to create business opportunities.Mushroom cultivation in ASEAN or The Assocciation of Southeast Asian Nations countries that tend to be low provides opportunities for producers or the private sector to develop it independently.With the increasing cultivation of mushrooms, it can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Mushrooms being plant varieties have been used for thousands of years around the world as both food and medicine [1].Mushrooms are rich sources of nutrients and have large portions as health foods.Mushroom grow by eating other living organic matter [2].Mushrooms are a potential commodity to be developed because they do not need soil for growth [3].Mushroom cultivation has developed and become a hobby for countries in the world including for ASEAN countries [4].ASEAN countries as tropical and agrarian regions depend part of their territory for the agricultural sector [5].In this case, farmers make up the majority of the main livelihood of the ASEAN community as a source of income.Therefore, of course, mushroom commodities are one of the agricultural varieties in ASEAN countries that need attention, especially to achieve community food security [6].Mushroom commodities in 2 ASEAN countries have the potential to be developed, especially for fresh/frozen mushroom commodities [7].Given that the processing of mushroom commodities is in accordance with the environmental conditions of ASEAN countries with tropical climates [8].What's more, fresh/frozen mushroom commodities do not require advanced production using advanced technology.On the other hand, developing mushroom commodity production has a positive positive effect on improving welfare, increasing employment, and renewing skills that have an impact on achieving sustainable development [9].
The global mushroom market is expected to experience significant growth in the coming year [10].The increasing number of vegan and vegetarian populations, increasing health advice, and penetration of retail networks are the main factors that grow the global mushroom market [11].In addition, the expansion of the food processing industry is also very important in driving market growth.Based on revenue, the global mushroom market is expected to reach USD 50,275.4 million in 2021, and is expected to reach USD 115,798.5 million by 2030.The global mushroom market is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2021 to 2030 [12].Mushroom production is considered potential because it can be converted into processed products, including dried, frozen, sliced, made into powder, and mushroom extract [13].Thus, mushrooms become the main raw material for processed mushroom producers.Mushroom live because they obtain nutrients by metabolizing organic non-living objects like straw [14].Mold thrives in a variety of places, including grasses, plant surfaces, or inside compost heaps.Mold producers typically produce mushrooms on compost or indoor controlled condition substrates.Unlike other plants, mushroom do not contain chlorophylll, sothey do not need sunlight to grow [15].Wild mushrooms usually grow in shady or wooded areas where they are filtered lights.Mushroom also need moisture to produce fruit; Thus, the area or soil they surround needs to be moist [16].Mushroom usually require a cool environment ranging from 20°C to 25°C for optimal growth.The picture above shows the global market of mushroom production.Through the diagram above, the majority of the mushroom market is in Asia Pacific.While the other smallest parts are South Africa and America.Indirectly, the diagram implies that the Southeast Asia region to East Asia is the country with the largest mushroom commodity demand market, including in its production activities.This is also stated from FAO data in 2023 that China produces 70% of the world's mushrooms so that it occupies the first position as a mushroom producing country [17].However, ASEAN as a regional organization of ten Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia is actuallya mushroom importing country, even though the conditions and environment in Southeast Asia are suitable for mushroom cultivation [18].This is interesting to review further, especially when comparing regional organizations equivalent to ASEAN with China, the largest producer of mushroom commodities in the world.This research is useful to show about mushroom commodities that actually have the potential to be developed, especially in order to support decent life and the achievement of SDGs.In addition, this study also seeks to reveal the results of comparisons between ASEAN and China in the comparative advantages of mushroom commodities over the last five years from 2018 to 2022.Looking back at that period, there was also a pandemic that required all economic activities to run online.The expected follow-up objective of this study is to encourage ASEAN's strategy as a regional organization to pay more attention to mushroom commodities which are often sidelined as potential export commodities.In fact, the strategy of developing mushrooms as an export commodity will boost the income of ASEAN member countries and help achieve the SDGs goals.

Literature Review
Comparative advantage is the ability of an economy to produce a particular good or service at a lower opportunity cost than its trading partners [19].Comparative advantage is used to explain why a firm, country, or individual can profit from trade [20].When used to describe international trade, comparative advantage refers to products that a country can produce more cheaply or more easily than other countries.Although this usually describes the benefits of trade, some contemporary economists now recognize that focusing solely on comparative advantage can result in exploitation and depletion of state resources [21].David Ricardo famously pointed out how Britain and Portugal both benefited by specializing and trading according to their comparative advantages.In this respect, Portugal was able to make wine at low cost, while England was able to produce cloth at a low price.Ricardo predicted that every country would eventually recognize these facts and stop trying to make products that cost more to produce.The theory of comparative advantage helps explain why protectionism usually doesn't work.Adherents of this analytical approach believe that countries engaged in international trade have worked to find partners with comparative advantages.In international trade, countries usually have comparative advantages in different industries and for different reasons.This can be related to natural resources, workers, government investment, or other factors [22].
Mushrooms are classified as a type of vegetable plant.However, in genus, mushroom remain part of its own plant classification [23].Mushroom are a type of multicellular yeast that work together to gather food, repair, and reproduce.Mushroom cultivation is relatively easy by utilizing wooded areas and outdoor locations to grow mushrooms [24].Small-scale mushroom production is also an opportunity for farmers interested in additional ventures and is a special option for farmers who do not have much land.Many small-scale production systems are perfect for garden growers who want to incorporate mushrooms into their vegetable production systems and for individuals interested in using mushroom cultivation to add value from materials derived from thinned wood piles and similar "waste" materials.Mold production can play an important role in managing agricultural organic waste as well as encouraging the production of value-added bedding materials from agricultural byproducts and food processing [25].In this process, farmers collect logs and find areas that are ideal soil for fungal growth.Sales of commercially and globally grown specialty mushrooms in the 2019-2020 period were $67.4 million, up 2% from the previous season.The average price farmers received was $3.37 per pound, down 7 cents from the previous season's estimate.A specialty grower is defined as having at least 200 natural logs in the production of some indoor commercial areas, and sales of $200 or more [26].

Materials and methods
This study used the RCA method or Revealed Comparative Advantadge Index.According to Balassa (1965) comparative advantage is defined as the ratio between a particular export product of a country's overall exports to the world and a country's total exports to total world exports [27].RCA is based on Ricardian trade theory, which holds that trade patterns between countries are governed by a country's relative differences to the world or countries in productivity [28].According to Balassa (1965), a country should have a comparative advantage for a particular product if the share of that product in its country's exports is greater than that of other trade areas compared [29].The RCA index is further calculated from the previous section with the last part if it shows a comparative advantage when the value is greater than 1 or a comparative loss when the value is less than 1.The Balassa RCA Index is also known as Index B. The RCA Index will be based on the results of export and import data of a country.The Balassa Index or RCA has benefits that are in accordance with the Kunimoto principle (1977) as expanded by Vollrath (1991) so that it is called the "Kunimoto-Vollrath principle".Kunimoto (1977) states that a country's specialization (i) relative to other countries (j) is measured by comparing the value from exports (i) to (j) with the theoretical value [30].
This research uses data obtained from the publication of the International Trade Center Trade Map of mushroom commodities of ASEAN regional organizations and China in the last five years, namely 2018-2022.Data obtained from the International Trade Center is collected through UNCTAD and WTO countries around the world including regional and multilateral organizations.In order to obtain the right comparative advantage results, the data is based on the 6-digit Hamronized System (HS) level following the National Trade Classification Standard (SITC).The approach with the RCA model is considered appropriate to apply to get a picture of the market map with the highest success.The RCA is required to uncover the arche type of comparative advantage of countries, valuation the differential effect of changes in trade in different products, or identify countries that are relatively close competitors in a particular market [31].There are two ways or methods that can be taken to analyze a comparative advantage including DRC and RCA.The DRC (Domestic Resource Cost) method is more dynamic but often some production cost data is not available especially for developing and less developed countries.The RCA (Revealed Comparatice Advantage) method is usually less predictive than DRC, but many studies use RCA due to the availability of data, especially for developing and less developed countries [32].Therefore, this study takes RCA on the grounds that the required data are available for long-term comparative advantage.RCA also helps measure a country's export market share in the same industry group as other producing countries to measure comparative advantage [33].The RCA calculation in this study uses the following formula.

Description:
The export value of ASEAN mushroom commodities to importing countries in the world  : Total export value of ASEAN aggregate commodities to importing countries in the world  : The value of world mushroom commodity exports to mushroom importers inthe global trade chain  : Total value of world exports While China's BRCA calculation can be calculated based on the formula below.

( 𝑋 𝑓𝑗 ) 𝑋𝑗
Description: The export value of Chinese mushroom commodities to importing countries in the world  : The total value of China's aggregate commodity exports to importing countries in the world  : The value of world mushroom commodity exports to mushroom importers in the global trade chain  : Total value of world exports If the BRCA score is below 1, it indicates that mushroom commodities in the country have weak competitiveness.If the BRCA score is between 1-2, mushrooms and mushroom sub-production have moderate competitiveness.If the sjor is higher than 3, then mushroom commodity products are declared to have a strong comparative advantage in the region/country [34].

Result
Mushrooms are a type of semi-finished food that is used for the production of high-value products such as sliced, canned, frozen, to mushroom powder.Major mushroom production companies such as Boundelle Group, Costa Group, and Greenyard work with thousands of mushroom growers and traders to produce fresh packaged mushrooms or produce mushrooms as processed foods [35].The country with the most mushroom producers is China [36].Based on FAO statistics, China accounts for 75% of the world's mushroom production [37].Oyster mushrooms are the most widely produced type of mushroom with tofu productionof around 26 million tons in China.China also produces other types of mushrooms such as matsutake mushrooms, organic mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms.In second place, the United States produces 1.2 million tons of mushrooms annually.Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland occupy the third, fourth, and fifth positions respectively as the largest mushroom producers in the world.ASEAN is a regional organization consisting of ten countries including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.Meanwhile, the ASEAN country with the most mushroom producers is Indonesia.In 2019, Indonesia ranks 15th mushroom producing country with 40.906, tons and this figure is higher than India, South Korea, and Vietnam.Unfortunately, in 2022 BPS Indonesia reported a decrease in mushroom production in Indonesia which was only 63.15 tons.The highest decrease occurred in Indonesia in 2021 of 97.27% which was only 90.42 tons compared to the previous year which was 3,316.32 tons.However, this analysis is needed as an illustration related to other export commodities that can be prioritized by ASEAN countries.The production of fresh or chilled mushrooms in the genus "agaricus" showed a decrease in production in ASEAN in 2021 compared to 2020 by 12.6%, from 16,934 to 13,352.Meanwhile, in China, there was an increase of 9.43% in 2021 compared to 2020, from 25,476 to 27,010.In the sub-commodities of fresh or chilled mushrooms and truffles (outside the genera agaricus, boletus, cantharellus, and shiitake) show far differences between ASEAN and China.China has sub-mushroom production figures that touch hundreds of thousands while ASEAN is in the range of thousands only.In the sub-commodities of mushrooms and truffles that are temporarily preserved for example with sulfur dioxide gas, or in salt water shows that there are differences between ASEAN and China, where China can produce in the tens of thousands while ASEAN is only thousands.However, in 2022 compared to 2021, the type of preserved mushroom production in ASEAN increased by 1.13%, from 1,556 to 1,773.In China in 2022, there was a decrease in preserved mushroom commodities, a decrease of 1.37%, from 25,848 to 18,749.In the sub-commodity of mushroom of the genus "agaricus" preserved temporarily for example with sulfur dioxide gas, or in salt water shows that there is a difference between ASEAN and China, where China can produce in the tens of thousands while ASEAN is only thousands to hundreds.Even in ASEAN in 2022 there was a significant decrease of 26.63% from 5,167 to only 194.In contrast to China, there was an increase in 2022 of 1.32% from the original 25,578 to 33,931.In the dried mushroom sub-commodity genus "agaricus" both ASEAN and China produce a maximum of thousands Unfortunately, in ASEAN there was a decrease of 3.85% in 2019 when compared to 2018, from 2,522 to 654 only.This continues to decrease every year until there is an increase in 2022 from 499 to 793.While in China the decline also occurred in 2019 compared to 2018.However, this did not happen because in 2020-2022 there was actually an increase of 1.60%.Dried mushrooms and truffles (either sliced or powdered mushrooms but not further processed) in ASEAN in 2019 showed a decrease of 0.39% from 135,299 to 52,930.A similar thing also happened in China, where in 2019 there was a decrease of 1.40% from 2,322,693 to 1,653,898.This happened again in China in 2022 as the highest decline reached 9.86% compared to 2021, namely from 944,315 to 95,762.

ASEAN and China RCA Results
The study presents an analysis in three steps to compare the dynamics of mushroom competitiveness in ASEAN and China.In the first step, the level of competitiveness is first calculated using the BRCA method and compared the competitiveness of ASEAN and China during 2018-2022.The second step is to look at the BRCA calculation and analyze whether ASEAN and China have competitiveness in mushroom commodities, and finally analyze the competitiveness of mushrooms and mushroom subprocessed in ASEAN and China.To determine the level of competitiveness will be divided into three categories.If the BRCA value is below 1, it indicates that the commodity has weak competitiveness.If the score is between 1-3 then the product has a moderate level of competitiveness.If the BRCA score reaches more than 3, it shows that the product has strong competitiveness.
ASEAN countries in 2018-2022 only experienced a moderate level of competitiveness for 4 times and compared to the overall results none achieved strong competitiveness.In the HS code 071159, ASEAN achieved moderate competitiveness for preserved mushrooms and truffles in 2019-2020 where it reached 1,311 and 1,141 respectively.This also happened to commodities with HS code 071151 in 2021 for the comcodity of preserved mushroom of the genus "agaricus" with a value of 1,867.ASEAN also achieved moderate competitiveness for dried mushrooms and truffles, sliced or powdered mushrooms in the HS code 071239 1,185.ASEAN has focused on mushroom investment and development in Brunei Darussalam Research Centre (BARC) in Kilanas for the past five years.This was published in the Agriculture in ASEAN Trade and Investment Guidebook in 2016.The process of mushroom production and development in ASEAN, which is only concentrated in Brunei Darussalam without support from mushroom development in other ASEAN countries, causes less encouragement for the production of exported herbs in each commodity.
China has gained strong competitiveness in three mushroom commodities in the last five years starting from 2018-2022.This is shown from the results in the HS code 071159 for preserved mushrooms and truffles.Where in 2018-2022 obtained results above 3 or respectively of 4.101, 3.683, 3.928, 3.869, and 3.664.In mushroom commodities in the genus "agaricus" preserved with sulfur dioxide, China received strong competitiveness results in 2018-2022 where the results ranging from 3.492, 4.210, 3.855, 3.976, and 4.690 respectively.In mushroom commodities and sliced truffles, cans, or mushroom powder with the HS code 071239 China also obtained strong competitiveness results where each in 2018-2022 amounted to 5.995, 6.399, 6.883, 6.933, and in 2022 obtained moderate competitiveness results of 2.751.China is recognized as the world's largest mushroom producing country, this can happen because it is supported by a large mushroom market in China and abroad.Even in 2021, China exported processed mushrooms including in the form of slices, cans or powder worth $747 million and made it the world's first largest exporter of processed mushrooms.The main destinations for processed mushroom exports from China are Vietnam at $135M, Russia at $97.6M, Malaysia at $89.6M, Hong Kong at $53.9M, and Japan at $49.9M..

Dried mushrooms and truffles, whole, cut, sliced, broken or in powder, but not further prepared
Table 3 shows that both China and ASEAN countries have no comparative advantage in mushroom commodities with HS codes 070951, 070959, and 071231.Where the HS code 070951 for fresh and cold mushroom commodities of the genus 'agaricus" and types of mushrooms other than the genus agaricus, boletus, cantharellus, and shiitake with the HS code 070959, and the HS code 071231 the type of mushroom genus 'agaricus" either in the form of cuts, slices, cans, or mushroom powder.The year 2019-2020 is a comparative advantage for ASEAN for the production of preserved mushrooms with HS code 071159.This shows that there is an opportunity for ASEAN to develop the mushroom production it exports.However, this also does not dismiss the fact that China is also competitive in preserved mushroom products.Even in pandemic conditions, China still shows its competitiveness in mushroom commodities.This is not the case for ASEAN during the pandemic, hitting mushroom commodities does not show its comparative advantage.Meanwhile, in the mushroom commodity genus "agaricus" preserved in 2021, where ASEAN gained a comparative advantage. In

HS Description
Dried mushrooms and truffles, whole, cut, sliced, broken or in powder, but not further prepared Looking at the calculation of competitiveness stage three shown in table 4 below, it shows evenly that ASEAN has a weak comparative advantage in every mushroom commodity, whether preserved, dried, to fresh mushrooms.Weak results in every mushroom export commodity are not an obstacle for ASEAN countries to get the opportunity to increase export production of processed mushrooms either sliced, canned, or mushroom powder.This can be seen when ASEAN does not compete with the world's largest mushroom producing countries such as China.Meanwhile, increasing the absorption of local mushroom production from each ASEAN country in collaboration with traders or farmers must still be done.
On the other hand, China also continues to produce mushrooms, especially in fresh herbal commodities where RCA results in HS codes are 070951 and 070959 weak and low.Meanwhile, if fresh mushroom production is not a comparative advantage of China, ASEAN countries can take the opportunity to produce fresh mushrooms both chilled/frozen so that a balance in trade is achieved.Moreover, tropical ASEAN countries including Indonesia have a golden opportunity to produce fresh mushrooms.This is easier to do because the production and processing process of fresh / frozen mushrooms does not require sophisticated machinery or equipment like processing mushrooms in canned form as is the advantage of China.

Discussion
Environmental management is one of the main social objectives in improving living standards and ecosystem conditions as a strategy that can be elaborated with action, where the most important thing is to overcome environmental health [38].Maintaining the environment does not mean not utilizing but rather optimal production of available natural resources [39].Mushroom commodities become one of the natural resources on.The process of processing and producing mushrooms that tend to be easy and can be treated in any environment is a distinct advantage [40].Moreover, tropical areas such as ASEAN countries have air humidity that is suitable for mushroom cultivation.ASEAN countries including Indonesia have environmental conditions with full sunlight so that it is suitable for mushroom cultivation.This can be a follow-up from ASEAN countries and even the organization itself to have its own mushroom production compared to imports from other countries [41].
The development of mushroom commodities indirectly encourages the achievement of food security in these commodities so as to encourage the fulfillment of mushroom food figures both nationally and internationally.Furthermore, the development of mushroom commodities also encourages the process of exporting goods to other countries so that SDGs partnerships to achieve the goals can be achieved.Increasing exports, especially in mushroom commodities, is a manifestation of achieving the 17th sub-SDGs, namely promoting a universal, demand-based, open, non-discriminatory, and fair multilateral trading system under the WTO including the conclusion of agreements under the Doha Development Agenda.In addition, exports, especially mushroom commodities, contributed to an increase in exports from developing countries, especially the aim of doubling the proportion of least developed countries andglobal exports.Not only that, the strategy of developing mushroom products to be deployed as a commodity of comparative advantage for exports helps achieve the goals and agenda of the SDGs in 10 2030, namely relying on existing initiatives, to develop measurements of sustainable development progress that complement Gross Domestic Product and support statistical capacity building in developing countries.
Based on RCA data that has been collected in the previous three stages, ASEAN does not have a comparative advantage in mushroom commodities, both fresh/ chilled mushrooms, processed mushroom derivatives, to preserved mushrooms.Basically, comparing ASEAN with China is notan equal debate.Moreover, China is the world's number one mushroom commodity producing country.But looking at the comparison between regional organizations with one country becomes interesting for further analysis.This regional organization in Southeast Asia consisting of ten member countries is an organization that not only bridges partnerships between ASEAN members but also at the international level.RCA's results on all six selected HS codes show that the comparative advantage demonstrated by ASEAN is weak.Meanwhile, China, in the last 5 years still has a comparative advantage in fresh/cold mushroom commodities, processed mushroom derivatives, to preserved mushrooms.Thus, a mushroom development strategy is needed for ASEAN countries.By looking at the dynamics of the world community which is currently starting to pay attention to health conditions, it is not impossible that mushroom commodities classified as healthy foods are potential tobe developed.Therefore, ASEAN countries at least move quickly to focus agricultural exports on mushroom commodities that are considered potential in contributing to the achievement of SDGs and food security both nationally and internationally.

Conclusions
Based on the results of the third phase of RCA, ASEAN has a weak comparative advantage in the six HS codes in 2018-2022 mushroom commodities in the form of fresh/chilled mushrooms, preserved mushrooms, to processed mushrooms such as cans, slices or mushroom powder.Meanwhile, in 2018-2022, China gained a strong comparative advantage in three HS codes, namely 071159, 071151, and 071239, where each HS code has a description of 1) mushrooms preserved using sulfur dioxide, 2) mushrooms preserved in the genus 'agaricus' using sulfur dioxide, and 3) processed mushrooms in the form of irises, cuttlefish, cans, or mushroom powder.The strategy of developing mushroom commodities as the main commodity type of agricultural export needs to be carried out by ASEAN countries.Carrying out a strategy to develop mushrooms as the main commodity in exports increases the comparative advantages of ASEAN countries and encourages the achievement of security at both national and international levels.Each ASEAN country has great potential in developing in fresh/cold mushroom commodities because it does not require advanced technology as applied by developed countries.Improving the quality in addition to the quantity of mushrooms for ASEAN countries also needs to be done so that the export value increases and helps achieve SDGs Goals.

Table 1 .
ASEAN and China data mushroom commodity.

Table 1
above shows data collected by the International Trade Center for the last five years from 2018 to 2022.A glance at the data shows a considerable difference in numbers in each sub sector between ASEAN and China.Considering China itself is the first country of world mushroom production.

Table 2 .
Results of BRCA phase 1 calculation from ASEAN and China on mushroom sub commodities.

HS Description Dried mushrooms of the genus "Agaricus", whole, cut, sliced, broken or in powder, but not further prepared
April 2023, China's processed mushroom exports reached $158 million and imports reached $83.2 thousand alone, resulting in a positive trade balance of $158 million.Between April 2022 and April 2023, China's exports of Processed Mushrooms have increased by $19.2 million (13.8%) from $139

Table 4 .
Results of ASEAN BRCA and China phase three.