BASAR, 24 Jun: Twenty-two tribal women participated in a training programme on oyster mushroom cultivation, organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, under the aegis of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP)on Mushroom, at the Mushroom Research and Training Centre here in Leparada district on Tuesday.
The programme, which was aimed at promoting sustainable and income-generating agricultural practices in the region, was led by AICRP on Mushroom principal investigator Dr Raghuveer Singh, who emphasized the nutritional, medicinal, and economic value of oyster mushrooms, highlighting their high protein content, low input requirements, and growing market demand as key benefits for small and marginal farmers.
The participants were trained through live demonstrations and interactive sessions on low-cost and scalable cultivation techniques suitable for rural settings. Inside the mushroom cropping rooms, the trainees learned the step-by-step process of spawning, casing, and harvesting. A visit to the mushroom museum was also organized to showcase mushroom biodiversity and innovative production technologies.
To encourage the trainees to initiate their own mushroom units, essential cultivation inputs such as plastic buckets, hand sprayers, and informative literature in local languages were distributed.
The programme facilitated farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange, empowering the participants with confidence and technical know-how to venture into mushroom farming as a viable livelihood option.
