Mushroom Farming: Changing lives of rural women, girls

Women make up about half of the world’s population, and they account for two-thirds of the world’s adult illiterates. Women empowerment can be achieved through the development of entrepreneurship and income-generating activities. Suitable enterprises will be able to generate better jobs and help them become economically independent. In the present era, mushroom cultivation is a profitable enterprise as the productivity of mushroom is higher than any other crop. The crop, apart from solving the malnutrition problem, will also pave the way of self-employment opportunity for the rural female population.
One of the biggest advantages of mushroom farming is that it is a nutritional delicacy. Due to its productivity and profitability, its nutritional and medicinal value, mushroom cultivation is a profitable venture which can lead to integrated development of rural areas by increasing the income of women beneficiaries. Mushroom farming will play a pivotal role in economic empowerment, particularly for landless or small women farmers, by providing them skill-oriented training, which in turn would raise the quality of living of rural families.
Agriculture is the main pillar of the Indian economy. The nation has achieved food security but the struggle to achieve nutritional security is still on. In view of this, mushroom farming has been identified as a suitable and profitable venture. Mushroom crop is an ideal tool for converting agricultural waste into protein rich food items.The Girl Power Project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) in Jharkhand, is playing a significant role as independent agents of change, implementing actions that bring transformative change into the lives of women and girls in 10 districts of Jharkhand. The major emphasis is on enhancing skills by providing training so that women can start their own entrepreneurial units using low-cost setup. Thus, an initiative was taken to train about 40 rural women beneficiaries in Madhupur Block of Deoghar District on cultivation of Mushroom and its value addition. The three days residential program was held from March 29 to 31 at Mega Skill Centre established by AIILSG.
The training session was presided over by Sangeeta Nayak, a certified mushroom trainer. She addressed the beneficiaries and stated that mushroom farming is an important subsidiary occupation for small and landless farmers as well as women entrepreneurs. It is an indoor crop that can be cultivated by utilizing vertical space. To overcome the changes in lifestyle and prevalence of unhealthy food habits, the consumption of mushrooms is a powerful tool as it has an abundance of health benefits. She further briefed about its nature, types, nutritional values, origin, and cultivation practices. Mushroom is highly perishable in nature and is low-calorie also known as white vegetable. It is loaded with minerals, proteins, vitamins, and fibers. Mushrooms have no cholesterol, low starch content, and are low in calories. The anti-inflammatory properties present in the crop are proven to improve the efficiency of the immune system and also contains therapeutic properties. It is highly recommended for people with diabetes, obesity and hyper-tension.
Mushroom farming is a favourable activity in Jharkhand due to its limited availability and year-round demand. In Jharkhand, approximately 84 per cent of farmers are smalland marginal farmers and among them women workforce is available abundantly. The cultivation of oyster mushroom can help as an independent or additional source of income for women by utilising easily accessible resources. Oyster mushroom is one of the most popular edible and delicious mushrooms. It can be grown on almost all types of agricultural waste, which is available free of cost.

• It helps in generating direct and indirect employment
• It requires less human resource and can be cultivated in closed rooms
• The used compost can be reused as good manure in other field crops
• It provides rich diet to vegetarians
• It has capacity of being exported to foreign countries
• Potential for utilisation of mushroom in preparation of value added products like mushroom powder, papad, and pickles.

Cultivation practices for production of oyster mushroom

The trainer conducted a practical session where she discussed extensively about the practice of mushroom cultivation. Firstly, the synthetic compost was prepared by soaking the straws of 2 to 3 inches in clean and cold water for 12 hours. Then, the substrate was soaked in a solution of Formalin and Bavistinmixed in the water. This helps to suppress the growth and multiplication of molds in the substratum. After this, the straws were kept at a dark place placed in a slanting manner to drain off excess water from the heap. The strawswere placed in four layers in polythene bags that are 45 cm in length and 30 cm in diameter perforated with holes. The straws are filled up to 2/3rd of the bags and then the mouth is tied. The bags are then placed on the shelves in the growing room in a humid place. Total of 51 bags are prepared by the beneficiaries which will be ready to harvest after a month from which approximately 200-250 kilograms of mushroom will be produced, ready for the market. Further, she also talked about the complete method of harvesting of mushroom to the beneficiaries. She added that while harvesting, the cap should be twisted gently with forefingers. She explained the importance of hygiene to be maintained in the shed. The room should be kept clean, away from insects and particularly from rats, which can damage the crop and later can cause infection. The best season to grow oyster mushrooms is from March-April to September-October.

Outcome

After the training, the beneficiaries will be able to produce mushrooms and related value added products like powder, pickle, and other edible items for selling and self consumption purposes. In the next step, the project team will support women entrepreneurs for establishing mushroom based micro enterprises by the women beneficiaries in Deoghar District and help in marketing of their produce through various means. Thus, the Girl Power Project aims to create mushroom based enterprises in the state, which will not only solve the malnutrition problem but also provide self-employment opportunities among the beneficiaries to promote
women entrepreneurship.