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Mushroom is the new cash crop in J&K

J&K has 20,230 sq km covered in forests, which is about 20 per cent of its total geographical area…reports Asian Lite News

It is no secret that the youngest mountains in the world, the Himalayas, are home to some of the world’s unique flora and fauna. God had bestowed the Kashmir Valley in particular with a favourable agro-climate that delivers the precise conditions for the growth of medicinal plants. Recently mushroom cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir has taken the center stage for its high commercial value and therapeutic benefits.

Mushrooms are an excellent source of nutraceuticals, antioxidants, anticancer prebiotic, immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular, antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic, antifungal, and antidiabetic elements; they also guard against tumor development. Rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidant agents (selenium, vitamin C, and choline), folic acid, and iron, mushrooms are the new superfoods.

Under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (National Agriculture Development Programme) mushroom cultivation is a focus area. Mushroom growers are equipped with quality seeds and trained in scientific cultivation techniques. Mushroom production is at its all-time high in the Union Territory thanks to the J&K Agriculture Department’s efforts in bringing the best methods and technical know-how to people genuinely interested in farming.

The Valley boasts of many success stories in the mushroom cultivation business. 27-year-old Nisar Ahmad from the Bramri area of Kupwara quit his job two years back to be a full-time mushroom farmer. He participated in a mushroom farming awareness session organised by the agriculture department and took a leap of faith in himself to start this venture. Now he encourages people to pursue farming because it’s more satisfying than slogging in salaried jobs, it pays well, and the government schemes, subsidies, and interest-free loans help in easy business set-up.

In the fairytale Nadigam hamlet (off the Shopian-Kadir road) Jahangir Ahmad Malik and his friend Umar Yaseen set up a button mushroom unit last year seeing the popularity of this fungus. With the help of the Department of Agriculture and administration’s 50 per cent subsidy and technical knowledge, they were able to grow 110 kg of mushrooms in six months earning a profit of Rs 2 lakh.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) like mushrooms are a source of livelihood for people living in the forest area. J&K has 20,230 sq km covered in forests, which is about 20 per cent of its total geographical area.

In the Shivalik range of the Jammu region mushrooms (especially gucchi or Morchella esculenta L.) provide income security to peasants. Gucchi mushrooms fetch a great commercial value so it’s often a competition for forest dwellers to find a huge bunch of them. On a good day, a person can collect up to 10 kg of fresh mushrooms.

People with experience in collecting mushrooms can tell them apart by their colour – yellow, white, half-white, brown, black, and dark brown, and various shapes. They can also be identified by the tree species they grow under like apples, pears, Taxus wallichiana (Himalayan Yew), Abies pindrow (West Himalayan Fir), Juglans regia (Old World walnut tree species), Pinus wallichiana (Himalayan coniferous evergreen tree), etc.

It’s a race against time when the clouds turn gray and signal thunder, lightning, or snowfall. Adults and children alike leave their homes on mushroom expeditions, like a treasure hunt in the forests. On average a gucchi collector walks 15 km daily for the mushroom search. For many people, it is an add-on to their regular day jobs.

Traditionally gucchi mushrooms are dried in the open air by putting a thread through them in a garland-like fashion. It loses much weight after drying but then has a shelf-life of two to three years. These mushrooms are sold to local traders (middle-men) who visit these villages and towns and further supply them to cities. Dried Morchella esculenta L. fetches a price anywhere between Rs 3,000 to 17,000 per kg. It’s an excellent antidote to stomach ailments. It’s also a popular home remedy for children prone to nose and ear bleeding.

With the recent government interventions, forest-dwellers in Jammu Shivaliks are being given formal training and instruction about the mushroom collection and processing techniques, market knowledge, and market access, so that their efforts in this employment pay them their rightly earned share.

Women-led Self-Help Groups are being encouraged under HAUSLA and TEJASWINI entrepreneurship schemes introduced by the Centre in J&K. Two young Kashmiri girls from Tral village of South Kashmir started a mushroom cultivation unit last year under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) scheme.

While discussing what to pursue after their higher education, they learned about the Department of Agriculture providing financial and technical assistance to those interested in mushroom farming. As luck would have it, today Raukaya Jan and Sobiya are running many successful mushroom cultivation units in less than a year.

Women empowerment is at the forefront of all the economic development plans of the J&K administration. Their role in the socio-economic upliftment of the UT is recognised and appreciated. On August 15, 75 progressive women entrepreneurs from the NRLM Self-Help Groups will be honoured by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for their contributions to society.

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An inspiring success story in mushroom cultivation

After earning double from her first crop, Gupta gradually began to put in more resources, growing button mushrooms using 10 quintals of compost in 2008 and 20 quintals in 2009…reports Bivek Mathur

One fine day in 2007, when 43-year-old Vimla Gupta walked into a government exhibition in Udhampur town in Jammu and Kashmir, little did she know that an idea awaited her — one that would make her an entrepreneur with a multi-lakh business to her name, in the next 15 years.

At the time, Gupta ran a private school and earned a meagre income. Since it was located outside the municipal limits, she could not convince the parents in the rural vicinity to get their wards admitted to her institute, which had a strength of around 50 students.

“I had already decided that I would close down the school and start a new business,” Gupta said, adding that the impetus came from an agriculture department employee, Hans Raj, whom she met at that exhibition.

When Raj found out that Gupta, a member of a self-help group under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, was planning to shut her school, he advised her to start growing mushrooms in its premises.

Mushroom production requires relatively smaller space and fewer resources. Hence, growing the produce at her school- spread over an area of 1 Kanal (or 0.125 acres) – sounded like a reasonable proposition.

Gupta was interested yet cautious. Having no experience in the sector, she continued to run her school but also started growing button mushrooms on the premises by manually preparing 5 quintals of compost.

After earning double from her first crop, Gupta gradually began to put in more resources, growing button mushrooms using 10 quintals of compost in 2008 and 20 quintals in 2009.

A success story paved with challenges

“When we took up mushroom cultivation, in the initial years, we did not know whom to approach to sell our produce. But gradually, we developed market networks and started selling our produce in Udhampur and at sabzi mandis in Jammu,” said Gupta, who now earns around Rs 50,000 per month from the business.

In 2009, Gupta’s son Ramit Gopal quit his job and joined her in this venture, growing 50 bags of oyster mushrooms and button mushrooms.

Cultivating mushrooms from their 14-room school, the mother-son duo has a current output of more than 1,000 bags of oyster mushrooms and over 500 bags of button mushrooms annually, harvesting four crops over the course of the year.

However, writing this success story has been anything but easy for Gupta, who admits it was a huge risk for her to get into this business.

Starting a new unit is easy now, as the current government provides farmers with subsidies, training and other equipment-related support. But in 2007, we only got training and no other help,” she said, adding, “Now, the agriculture department provides us with value addition like marketing and branding.”

A pickle business and plans to expand

Following the roaring success of their business, Gupta and her son are now planning to increase the varieties of mushrooms they grow and their production in the years to come. In 2021, they started a mushroom pickle unit from their home, which helped them earn better dividends.

“We’ve sold only 1.5 quintals of pickle [so far]. From next year onwards, we will increase the quantity of achaar we make,” they said.

The agriculture department has been helping the mother and son with the branding of their pickle. “We’ve established a brand under the name ‘Jammu Kheti’ to help the mother-son duo sell their products, both offline and online,” said Sanjay Anand, Chief Agriculture Officer, Udhampur.

“Our department has also established two farmers’ facilitation centres in Jammu and Udhampur, and are also conducting departmental exhibitions and melas (fairs), where farmers showcase and sell their products directly to the customers.”

Moreover, the regional agriculture division plans to tie up with Amazon as well as government and private commercial stores across India that would help farmers like Gupta earn higher income from the sale of their products in the D2C (direct-to-consumer) segment.

Govt. subsidies in the hope of a ‘Mushroom Village’

Aside from training and other forms of support, the Jammu and Kashmir government has also been providing a 25% subsidy on the purchase of mushroom-growing racks and a 50 per cent subsidy on a fixed number of ready-made bags for first-time mushroom cultivators.

For instance, Gupta and Gopal received a subsidy in 2016-17, when they installed mushroom-growing shelves in their school. It was the same year they closed down their institute.

Anand claimed that Udhampur has seen record growth in mushroom cultivation in the past few years, which had “increased the income of Udhampur farmers” manifold.

“In 2021, we had grown 50,000 to 60,000 bags of mushroom in the town, compared to only 5,000 to 6,000 bags the previous year,” the agriculture officer added. “We’re now planning to name our Neeli Nallah village ‘Mushroom Village’ because most farmers here now grow mushrooms and earn a better income.”

An inspiration for others

“There’s always an opportunity around us. We just need to work with a positive approach to crack that opportunity and wait for the results,” said an optimistic Gupta, the talk of the town who’s now being approached by several aspiring entrepreneurs for help with establishing similar units.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has also been approaching her to train and help others develop their businesses. “I’m leaving no stone unturned to help them,” Gupta said.

One of the many inspired by Gupta is Anju Samailiya (37) from Udhampur. In November 2021, Samailiya visited Gupta’s mushroom unit through the Department of Agriculture. Following proper training through the department’s field functionaries, she agreed to grow 40 bags of button mushrooms and 8 bags of oyster mushrooms on a trial basis. After successfully harvesting her first crop, graduate Samailiya is on track to grow 100 bags of oyster mushrooms and 40 bags of button mushrooms this year.

Similarly, Shambhi Devi (60) from Majori village in Udhampur’s Ramnagar Tehsil is also planning to grow around 50 bags of button mushrooms on a trial basis this year.

“I watched a video on Vimla Gupta’s story on a regional news portal in December last year and then decided to grow mushrooms in the Majori hills,” she said. “So I applied for a 15-day capsule course on mushroom cultivation in January, and now I’m getting trained.”

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