Vocational : Mushroom Production

Mushrooms are the health food and their demand is increasing day by day due to the changing food habits, demand for quality food, urbanisation and globalisation. As our cultivable land is shrinking, traditional agriculture is proving to be non –remunerative and our farmers want sustainable additional on farm income. Therefore, to ensure that our farmers get good and sustainable income, there is need for diversification in agriculture, value addition and marketing of farm produce. Mushroom cultivation is a novel component of agriculture that can be easily integrated in the farming system to enhance the income of the farmers, or can be taken up as an independent activity on commercial scale. Mushrooms are not only a quality food but also a way of utilizing agricultural wastes and generating wealth from the waste. Returns and productivity in mushroom cultivation are very high because of the vertical nature of its farming. The vocation of Mushroom Production is getting popular tremendously over the last few years. It is one of the few professions that requires less labour and can be taken up as a profession by men and women, young and old, both literate and illiterate. As there are less initial investments and quick returns, hence families and unemployed youth can be encouraged to adopt this vocation. Mushroom production will improve the socio economic status and solve the employment problems of rural economy by generating the income and job opportunities. The foremost aim of this course is to promote self employment. The course components comprises of theory and practical components covering important topics such as spawn production, cultivation of button mushroom, oyster mushroom, paddy straw mushroom, milky mushroom and other medicinal mushrooms of economic importance, management of insect pest and diseases of mushroom, value addition, entrepreneurial skills and health and safety at workplace etc.