Success story of Mushroom grower

Background: Mushrooms are gradually becoming popular as they are rich in minerals, vitamins, very low on fat and sugar. They are good source of protein and contain many essential amino acids. It is also known to have medicinal value and certain varieties of mushrooms can inhibit growth at cancerous tumor. Leisure time can be utilized effectively by involving in mushroom cultivation enterprise. Mushroom production is labour and management intensive. There is ample scope for mushroom industry to thrive successfully and can become a lucrative business for the unemployed rural youth, self-help groups, farm women who are in search of viable activities which are promising and giving good returns and an additional income source for the farmer. Mushroom cultivation can effectively utilize theagro residues for production of protein rich food and plays crucial role in management of agro residues. Mushroom cultivation is an eco-friendly activity, as it utilizes the wastes from agriculture which are available in huge quantities in every corner of the state and in turn produces fruiting bodies with excellent nutritional and medicinal attributes.

Introduction: Mrs.Renukadevi, 35 years old graduate woman is involved in mushroom production from last one year. She resides at Arakere village of Tumakuru taluk in Tumakuru district. Before starting mushroom cultivation, she used to prepare and sell paper bags,plastic wall hangings and garlands. But she was not happy with that due to low income and marketing problem. Then she thought of doing something new independently. After getting one day training at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hirehalli, Tumakuru, she established her mushroom production unit in her residence. Initially, she started producing oyster mushroom cultivation in small scale by getting spawn from KVK. .Later she attended a 25 days skill training programme on Mushroom grower under ASCI (AgricultureSkill Council of India) programme during 2019-20 at KVK. Then she established this mushroom production unit in a bigger way.

Outcome: Initially she used to prepare 20-30 kg of mushroom per month. After training and guidance from our KVK, she is now producing 130-140 kg of mushroom per month. Now she is selling fresh mushroom both locally and sending to Bengaluru with the brand name of “White pearl”. She is also producing oyster mushroom on buy back basis with the suppliers from Bengaluru.

Impact: Now she started to sell fresh mushroom in different melas organized by Government Organizations and NGO’s. She started to give trainings to different SHG’s members. After getting training from her, 3-4 members started producing mushroom in a small scale.

Economic gains: By selling mushroom monthly she is getting an income of Rs 18,000-20,000/. She also created employment opportunity to two members. In future, she is planning to start value addition in terms of dried mushroom powder and other value added products. After several failures in mushroom cultivation, now she has become entrepreneur and mushroom production is the main source of income to her family.

Table 1: Production and Income details Before and After ASCI training programme