By Zubair Qureshi
Srinagar, Jan 6 (IANS) On August 5, 2019, a courageous decision was taken by the Central government to revoke the special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. The historic decision set off a major political as well as social makeover of the region, which had enjoyed ‘so-called’ special rights since Independence.
With the latest technological interventions of the Central government and the J&K administration, the mushroom production has registered a substantial boost across the Union Territory.
The J&K government is emphasising upon stakeholders for encouraging and promoting Mushroom Cultivation, a potential entrepreneurship for youth in a big way.
With the recent government interventions, forest dwellers in Jammu Shivaliks are being given formal training and instructions about mushroom collection and processing techniques, market knowledge as well as market access, so that their efforts pay them their rightly earned share.
Mushroom cultivation is one important tool in not only enhancing agricultural income of the farming community but also securing it against rising changes in climate and soil resources.
With this in mind, the government of Jammu and Kashmir is implementing a full-fledged project on ‘Promotion of Round the Year Mushroom Cultivation’ (PRYMC) across the UT.
The project to be implemented at a cost of around Rs 42 crore over the next three years by the Agriculture Production Department of J&K will increase the production of mushrooms by 3.5 times and revolutionise the mushroom cultivation here.
The project will also increase employment generation by 3 times and more than 768 new enterprises are also being created in the process to ensure sustainability of the interventions.
“Mushroom farming generates revenue and helps to reduce poverty. The production of mushrooms creates a significant amount of direct and indirect employment opportunities in the fields of cultivation and marketing, as well as providing opportunities for processing businesses and labour-intensive management,” said Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo.
He added that Mushroom farming requires little capital, little technical expertise, and it is even possible to grow mushrooms indoors on a small scale and easily earn a high return on investment.
He further said that women can grow mushrooms in their homes with little investment and as a result, mushroom farming not only gives rural women more power but also fights poverty at its source.
‘Promotion of Round the Year Mushroom Cultivation’ is one among the 29 projects, which were approved by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after being recommended by the UT Level Apex Committee for holistic development of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in the union territory of J&K.
The prestigious committee is headed by Dr Mangala Rai, Former DG ICAR and has other experts.
“Mushroom is an important cottage industry in rural areas. It leads to economic betterment of small and marginal farmers, landless labourers, and women. Being a cash crop it is a good means of generating employment opportunities for youth of the UT,” said Director Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Jammu, K.K. Sharma, who is implementing the project in collaboration with SKUAST.
He added that lack of availability of pasteurised compost and unorganised market were the major constraints in mushroom production and this project is going to address them in a significant way.
Under the project 26 pasteurised compost making units, 10 spawn production labs and 72 controlled conditioned cropping rooms (2,000 bags capacity), will be established in span of three years.
For the promotion of mushroom cultivation in non-traditional areas, 1.5 lakh subsidised pasteurised compost bags will be distributed among mushroom growers.
Women empowerment through establishment of 300 women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) will be undertaken.
The project also focuses on value addition of the perishable commodity through creation of four canning units and distribution of 60 solar dryers among mushroom growers.
In addition to this, an amount of Rs 2.1 crore has been earmarked for research and development.
Under this emphasis will also be laid on promotion of medicinal mushrooms and introduction of new strains of mushrooms.
It will also have specific emphasis on standardization of locally available substrates and documentation of conditions for their optimal growth.
All in all, the mushroom sector in Jammu and Kashmir is about to witness a resurgence in the form of unprecedented institutional and capital support which will boost production, productivity as well as export of mushrooms from the UT.
–IANS
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