Mushroom cultivation could be an additional source of livelihood for the peasants of Baleswar besides nutrition supplement, observed Pranjal Barua, an expert after making a field visit to some gram panchayats of north Baleswar.
Barua, known as Mushroom man of India, was invited to Baleswar by MP RK Jena to explore potential and possibility of mushroom culture in scientific manner in the district.
After making preliminary ground survey in Basta and Baliapal, Barua said mushroom could be grown here as the climate was conducive. “Paddy straw is abundantly available with the farmers and the temperature here generally remains between 20 and 40 degree Celsius. Oyster, Paddy straw and milky varieties of mushroom while are commonly grown in India, all of them can be grown in Baleswar as well,” said Barua.
“Even in a space of 10-12 feet, a farmer can earn up to Rs 1 lakh by growing the crop at least thrice a year,” he added.
MP Jena said “As a pilot project, we plan to motivate and train at least 50 farmers of North Baleswar on mushroom culture. The long-term plan is to bring them up for sustainable farming inculcating organic farming culture. On the success of the prototype, more areas would be taken for replication.”
Barua, who has been in the field of mushroom for last 23 years, also advocates for organic and sustainable farming.