Seasonal Mushroom Growing

Setting up a mushroom farm is an expensive and complex affair. It involves building of insulated rooms with metal racks. For control of temperature, RH and fresh air, air handling units are installed in individual rooms connected with a central cooling unit comprising of compressors, condensers etc. A composting unit having Phase1 tunnels, Phase2 tunnels and a platfarm  is also a part of the complex.

In north India, we get a fairly extended winter and it is possible to take one extended crop or even two crops, from end of November to end of March without sophisticated climate control. Hundreds of farmers produce mushrooms in north India with Haryana on the top of the list.The compost is made by long method and growing is done in bamboo-paddy straw huts.

Besides working in a modern mushroom farm with climate control, I have been growing mushrooms seasonally for the last ten years,making compost and growing in temporary huts made of bamboos and paddy straw, like hundreds of other farmers around Delhi. However I shifted to short method of composting after building Phase1 and Phase 2 tunnels, three years back, .My average yield picked is 6 MT of fresh mushrooms per batch of 12 MT of wheat straw with long method and 9 MT  for the same batch with short method.Working with many mushroom growers in the region,I have some thoughts  regarding present and future of seasonal mushroom growing.

In the year of 1985 a small village emerged on the map of India, as the village of mushroom as most of the families of village Badana in Haryana were engaged in this profession. Where is this village today? There used to be the biggest mushroom farm producing  100 tons of button mushrooms per day in bamboo huts     in hills of   Indonesia,in nineties under the guidance of Prof. Vedder. Taiwan was a major exporter in eighties. Not any more..China, the biggest producer and exporter of mushrooms, the figures of mushroom production are dipping steadily in the last few years. In fact they are shifting from seasonal growing to modern mushroom farms with climate control. Do the production in huts,during seasonal mushroom growing decline after a peak.Is it a reality or myth?

Advantage of starting up a new mushroom farm in a new place is always there. As the farm  and the site gets older, spores  of green mould, yellow mould, plaster mould etc. accumulates in the air, soil even on the bamboos.They are ready to attack mercilessly  on a compost not made properly or “selective” in other words.The monster of “bubble”is always looming and mushroom flies do appear as soon as warm weather begins in the month of March.God forbid, if bubble attack at an early stage, it can spoil the game as the economics of seasonal growing is based on prolonged period of cropping.Good hygiene standards are not possible to maintain in temporary huts erected among paddy fields. Solution - Therefore shifting the growing site every season helps to an extent.

Most of the farmers talk of poor yields, citing various reasons. Many farmers are making compost with very old formulation using inorganic nitrogen fertilizers like potash, calcium ammonium nitrate, super phosphate etc. instead of chicken manure. Not only is this formula expensive, but this nitrogen is not utilized by microbes working in late composting, therefore not very much useful to the mushroom mycelium. Solution-With right formulation,when compost temperature touch a temp. of 75 to 80 degrree C in the core of compost pile plus high levels of ammonia, nematodes and insect eggs get killed and there is no need to add Furadon and BHC powder, both of these chemicals are banned in developed countries.

Technical advice is not available to the farmers. The scientists working in research institutes are doing their bit, but how is a farmer is expected to learn the vast field of mushroom growing by attending small courses organised by them. Since it is a seasonal activity, farmer gets only two to three months for composting and three months for growing, where one has to rush against the time. "Skill" is hard to acquire - whether it is the moisture in compost or picking speed or watering regime during cropping. Solution - Instead of giving subsidies to the farmers, they should be strengthened by providing them with technical knowledge to increase the production.This can be done by visiting them door to door at the time of composting as well as at time of mushroom growing.A mushroom training school in the line of CCO Holland should be established where mushroom growing is done in a full fledged  mushroom farm running  actively round the year and where participants are involved in all steps of composting, growing and packing,working by their own hands with experts.There are different batches for beginners and growers with experience.

Labour availability is becoming a  major problem, especially they do not want to work in composting owing to the bad smell. Again being a seasonal activity, skilled labour is not available who prefer to work in mushroom farms with climate control the whole year. The reality of changing time is that with NREGA  and other development schemes in backward states, migrant labor from Bihar and UP are not coming to work in mushroom farms in Punjab and Haryana in big numbers any more.The focus of agriculture labour is confined to rice transplantation, grain harvest or sugarcane harvest as these activities are more rewarding in terms of money. Instances of workers getting advance money and disappearing are not uncommon.

Market is manipulated by a  few  traders (arthees) sitting in the vegetable markets of Delhi, Ludhiana and other cities. Our marketing system is not conducive to farmers where the middle man's margins are high. Often, they lend the money to the farmers just before the season start. Now farmer is bound to sell his produce to the same guy, who never miss an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. The perishable nature of mushroom makes the things even more difficult.

Like other agriculture crops, there is no provision of insurance of mushroom crops against damage of huts due to excessive rains, high winds and fire.

Banks helping farmers seems to be a farce. Many banks tells that loan against land in rural area is not possible and ask for big FDs as security. SBI is charging an interest rate of 12.15% for a loan taken for building a composting unit and 15% on cc limit. This is in contrast to 10.45% on a loan to buy a luxury car, 10.5% on setting up a poultry farm and 10% on building a cold store.

Despite the odds, there are a handful of growers who are doing well. With experience they have learnt the art of making compost by long method, kept their costing under control and found  better market outlets in other towns besides Delhi.

Like in any other business, there are some good years and some bad years. This year, the prices were very good which is the result of demand supply game.and an extended period of marriages. Bamboos are one time investment as they last for five to seven years. Each year when September comes, these bamboos lures the farmer and he again plans one more time even if preceding year was not so profitable!

I wish there was a strong cooperative of seasonal mushroom growers which could help the farmers get a better price for the produce by direct sale in fresh markets all over the country and a tie up with processing units. By highlighting the nutritional and medicinal value of this super food we should be able to increase the per capita consumption. Developed countries did it twenty years ago and are still doing it, spreading the useful information on food value and different ways to cook it, in health magazines, TV shows, FM radio by involving famous chefs,  nutritionists and dietitians. The supermarkets are full of eye catching posters with innovative slogans, inspiring customers to buy more mushrooms. In our country, NECC cooperative of egg producers is an excellent example, helping in marketing by promoting the produce to fixing of prices.

The credit to make mushroom a popular veggie goes  to the seasonal mushroom growers, and not to any other agency. How mushrooms invaded into the kitchens of middle class man from just being a party food in recent years is amazing! In a rapidly developing country like ours, there is a tremendous scope with a huge market for home as well as exports, in waiting .Considering the above mentioned points, seasonal mushroom growing should be popularized further, thus strengthening our farmers. Let us usher in the period of unlimited opportunities for growth of this cottage industry with a bang!