Jharkhand to Link Farmers with Mushroom Propagation

The Government of Jharkhand is preparing to add one more link in the chain of creating income source for farmers of the state. The Department of Agriculture, Government of Jharkhand has proposed a plan in this direction.

In view of linking 12000 rural people to this plan at the initial stage, the Department of Agriculture has initiated this project. This project is intended to increase the income of farmers of the state.

The Directorate of Horticulture has started working on this plan. On an average of 500 rural people are to be linked to this plan in the first phase. Women are to be preferred in this phase.

Under the plan every farmer will be given a subsidy of rupees five hundred. It will include essential items for mushroom propagation and training.

In the project, farmers can raise their income after working for a few hours on daily basis. This project will serve as an important tool for the empowerment of rural women as well.

Along with the subsidy of rupees five hundred, every farmer is to get 30 packets including mushroom seeds and other essential items. Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra, an NGO of Ranchi and some other non-government organisations will provide training of mushroom propagation to farmers. The Government has planned to spend on an average of one thousand rupees per person on the training.

Under the project the beneficiaries are to be selected on district levels.

Mushroom propagation takes about 60 to 70 days. Even a farmer who works on a small scale can earn up to 10,000. Though mushroom has a big market, the Government is also ready to help them in marketing of their product.

Why Mushrooms are so important?

In fact, Mushrooms are fungi that are edible. These provide many important nutrients. The amount of each nutrient varies through the type of mushroom we consume. These can be bought fresh, canned, or dried.

Mushrooms are rich in Protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Antioxidants help the body in removing out free radicals from the body. Some of the antioxidants found in mushrooms are selenium, Vitamin C and Choline.

Antioxidants in mushrooms can help prevent different types of cancers like cancer of lungs, cancer of prostate, cancer of breast and others.

Mushrooms contain dietary fibres that help in managing type-2 diabetes. About 1 g of fibre is found in a cup of sliced mushroom of about 70gm of weight. Mushrooms contain Potassium also. The Potassium and Vitamin C contained in mushrooms take care of the cardiovascular health.

Mushrooms provide folate. A single cup of mushroom contains 16.3mcg of folate. Thus, mushroom can be given to women during pregnancies to aid to their health.

Mushrooms have been reported to contain Vitamin B2, B9, B1, B5 and B3. Besides Proteins, mushrooms also contain Carbohydrate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, etc.