Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla said that more scientific research was needed to increase the shelf -life of mushrooms as this sector needs to be promoted and more people should be made aware and to be motivated to adopt mushroom farming.The Governor was speaking as a Chief Guest at the 27th National Mushroom Fair organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Directorate of Mushroom Research, (ICAR-DMR) Solan here today.
While congratulating the Directorate for organizing the fair, the Governor said that Solan was named as ‘Mushroom City’ on 10th September in the year 1997 and the 27 years of journey of the department has witnessed new techniques and numerous innovations in mushroom farming, making it a quality produce.
The Governor said that mushroom production in India, which was around one lakh tonne 10 years ago, has reached 3.50 lakh tonne as of today and India was ranked fourth in mushroom production ensuring handsome income in a short period of two to three months.
He said the scientists, producers, entrepreneurs and industries need to come together on single platform by using the available modern technologies for enhancing its production and marketing.It is a matter of pride that the Directorate of Mushroom Research was the only institute in the country which has 32 All India Coordinated Mushroom Project Centres in the country.
He appealed to the Directorate to take the production techniques to every corner of the country through agricultural universities and agricultural science centres so that the varieties produced could fetch good price for the mushroom developers.
The Governor said that apart from commercial production, the wild mushroom as ‘Gucchi and Keedajadi’ are some varieties of mushrooms which need to be worked upon to increase the productivity as they can fetch really good price. He also emphasized on organizing fairs, seminars, training and exhibitions from time to time to make farmers aware.
The Governor presented Progressive Mushroom Grower Award to Anuj Kumar from Assam, Ganesh from Maharashtra, Prakash Chand from Odisha, Rekha Kumari from Bihar, and Shije from Kerala on the occasion.Earlier, Dr. V.P. Sharma, Director, Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan welcomed the Governor and detailed about National Mushroom fair, status of mushroom production in India and world and the achievements of ICAR-DMR, Solan.
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General, Horticulture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi said the directorate has developed many new varieties of mushrooms which were in high demand globally. He said that today there was a huge market for mushrooms and to meet such demand more production should be done with modern methods.
Prof. Rajeshwar Singh Chandel, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Horticulture and Forestry University, Nauni, Solan who was present as a special guest said that ICAR-DMR has a great contribution for developing successful entrepreneurs with scientific research.Earlier, the Governor also inaugurated the exhibition based on mushroom production put up by various entrepreneurs and interacted with them besides evincing keen interest in their produce.