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Jammu, Sept 3: Traditionally mushrooms are grown in an optimal temperature ranging in between 20 to 28 degree Celsius i.e. post mid-September to November every year in Jammu region.
This is the reason when temperature soars to maximum in Jammu belt in summers, the price of the cash crop also increases in the market as only a small percentage of mushroom growers, who have ACs installed in their units, fill the supply gap in the market.
But in Udhampur’s hilly Basantgarh block, temperature comparatively remains low even in summers and hence suits mushroom cultivation. This is where NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) Basantgarh Block Programme Manager, Naresh Kumar, saw an opportunity to push the farmers of his area to grow mushrooms over other traditional crops—obviously to make them self-reliant, which is also an objective of NRLM.
Accordingly, in February this year, he succeeded in convincing 60 families of his block to start growing mushroom crops on a trial basis, initially.
“Since our farmers had never grown mushroom crop in the past, we sought help of District Mushroom Officer Udhampur, Mr. Sunil Gupta, and arranged for them (farmers) capsule courses in mushroom growing in February this year in their villages itself i.e. Basantgarh, Latti, and Chatrairi,” Naresh Kumar said.
Nishu Devi, 30, wife of Sanjay Singh, was one of the farmers who attended the capsule course at Basantgarh.
“Since mushroom crops had never been grown in our area before, I too hesitated initially to take risks. But then my husband agreed to grow 10 bags of button mushroom crop on a trial basis,” Nishu Devi said.
In the first week of April, she purchased 10 bags of ready made compost provided to her by
NRLM Basantgarh at the cost of Rs. 120 per bag, thus a total spending of Rs. 1200 to set up a small unit within her home.
Nishu Devi hardly knew that her small unit would give her a profit of Rs. 4000 within two-and-a-half months i.e. the time of the crop harvest. She said she didn’t approach any retailer or wholesaler to sell her crop. Rather, people purchased mushrooms from her unit itself since the crop was new to the hilly area.
Elated over the success of her small unit, the 30-year-old woman agripreneur is now establishing a larger unit at her home to grow 1000 bags of button mushroom in the coming season, thus an expected profit of Rs. 4 lakh.
Nishu Devi is not the only woman to have benefitted from the mushroom cultivation. 30-year-old Shakuntala Devi wife of Ram Lal from Dudu area claims she grew 26 bags of button mushroom herself and three other women self-help-group members of her area grew hundreds of bags of button mushroom in the month of April on a trial basis.
“Almost all of the growers have earned some benefits in the last season and are now installing larger units in their homes to further increase their business in mushroom farming,” Shakuntala said.
