Mushrooms in india

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Mushrooms in India



Mushrooms

Cultivation, Marketing and Consumption

Introduction

Mushrooms are the plant of immortality - that’s what ancient Egyptians believed according to the Hieroglyphics of 4600 BC. The delicious flavour of mushrooms intrigued the pharaohs of Egypt so much that they decreed mushrooms as food for royalty. In various other civilizations throughout the world, including Russia, China, Greece, Mexico and Latin America, mushroom rituals were practiced. Many believed that mushrooms had properties that could produce super-human strength; help in finding lost objects and lead the soul to the realm of the gods. Diversification in any farming system imparts sustainability and mushrooms help in addressing the problems of quality food, health and environmental related issues. Commercial production of edible mushrooms represents unique exploitation of the microbial technology for the bioconversion of the agricultural, industrial, forestry and household wastes into nutritious food (mushrooms). Indoor cultivation of mushrooms, utilizing the vertical space, is regarded as the highest protein producer per unit area and time. This hi-tech horticulture venture has a promising scope to meet the food shortages, without undue pressure on land. For the people of a developing country like India, the two main issues are the quality food and unemployment besides the environmental issues and these issues can be resolved by popularizing mushroom cultivation amongst the rural masses and the young generation. Indian agriculture will continue to be a main strength of Indian economy. With the variety of agricultural crops grown today, we have achieved food security by producing over 200 million tonnes of food grain. However, our struggle to achieve nutritional security is still on.

A quick overview of mushrooms in India

In India the mushroom production systems are of 2 types i.e. seasonal farming as well as high-tech commercial industry. (See Fig 1.1 / 1.2 )

Fig 1.1 Seasonal cultivation of mushrooms Fig 1.2 A commercial mushroom production unit



Since the 70’s the growth rate of mushrooms shot up from a mere 5000 tonnes in 1990 to over 1,00,000 tonnes in 2010.

Today commercially grown species are button and oyster mushrooms, followed by other tropical mushrooms like paddy straw mushroom, milky mushroom, etc.

The concentrated areas of production in India are the temperate regions for button mushrooms, tropical and sub-tropical regions for oyster, milky, paddy straw and other tropical mushrooms.

Two to three crops of button mushroom are grown seasonally in temperate regions with minor adjustments of temperature in the growing rooms; while one crop of button mushroom is raised in North Western plains of India seasonally.

The present production of white button mushroom is about 85% of the total production of mushrooms in the country.

India produces 600 million tonnes of agricultural waste per annum, this can be utilized to produce highly nutritive food such as mushrooms.

High availablity of raw materials and labour make mushroom growing economically profitable in India.

Scope for intense diversification by cultivation of other edible mushrooms like oyster, shiitake, milky and medicinal mushrooms are additional opportunities for Indian growers.

On the export front during 1994 India not only figured in the US imports but also emerged as the second largest exporter of canned mushrooms replacing Taiwan.

What is in it for Companies like yours?

India is being rated as one of the biggest Export Oriented Units in the world. It has emerged as the second largest exporter of canned mushrooms replacing Taiwan. By just diverting 1% of agro-wastes towards mushroom production, India can produce 3 million

tonnes of mushroom and about 15 million tonnes of compost. Being an indoor crop, the commodity provides immense opportunities for empowerment of rural

and urban women through cultivation and also the production of value-added products. Mushrooms possess significant health benefits and medicinal properties including anti-cancer

effect. India can enter into a big and lucrative international trade in medicinal mushrooms, presently monopolized by some East Asian countries and America.

With the current growth rate of the Indian economy, the domestic market too for the mushrooms is likely to grow sooner than later.

During the next 18-20 years factors such as population growth, income growth and urbanization will determine the demand for food in general, and mushrooms in particular throughout the world, especially in the developing countries.

In case of mushrooms, for which vast markets (like India) still remain to be tapped, the production at global level may have to be more than doubled in the next 18-20 years.

Good to know In spite of predominantly tropical and subtropical climates in India, it is the temperate button

mushroom that has ruled and is still dominant in the mushroom market scenario of the country. It is a universal phenomenon that people do develop the taste as per the available commodity. An important strategy to cut down the energy cost is to diversify and grow different mushrooms

as per the natural conditions. No strategy for growing mushrooms can succeed if proper cultural practices are not followed.

The three important H’s for mushroom cultivation are: Homogeneity, Hygiene and Humidity.



Hygiene is perhaps the single most important issue to ensure adequate production of quality mushrooms. The disease once appears can be managed only partially and the damage can seldom be restored. It is always proper to follow the dictum of “Prevention is better than cure”.

Management of humidity plays an important role to get good yields and avoid various biotic and abiotic symptoms.

The next best investment in India…Button Mushrooms! The button mushroom is the most popular variety both for domestic and export market. At the global level it ranks first. The major production is from Hitech Projects. However, Hitech projects faced several problems in successful production resulting in high cost of production. The main problems are quality of raw materials, particularly wheat/paddy straw, chicken manure and sometimes gypsum resulting in poor quality of compost and poor yield. Besides, high cost of imported cultures/spawn, machineries and casing material are other impediments. In recent years even increasing cost of electricity has given a severe blow to the mushroom industry. Several medium scale projects have started growing mushrooms targeting big city markets utilizing indigenous machinery and equipment. However, during winter season hundreds of seasonal growers undertake button mushroom production, particularly in the Northern States targeting big cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, etc.

Homogeneity

Hygiene

Humidity



Button Mushrooms Price List

State Retail Price per 200 Grams

Bangalore Rs.40/-

Mumbai Rs.40/-

Delhi Rs.37-40/-

These prices are subject to change based on seasonality and other factors.

- Seasonal production is possible in big way in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, West Bengal, North Eastern Region, Madhya Pradesh and other areas where temperature remains below 200C during winter season. In this situation cost of production is low.

- Raw materials are easily and economically available for compost and casing material.

- Awareness about food and medicinal values is increasing in the country thus creating better domestic market.

- Transport facilities are available both by land and air.

- There is increasing market for post harvest products like pickle and soup powder.

- High cost of energy for year round production.

- Unorganized production and sale particularly by seasonal farmers.

- Lack of facilities to produce quality compost, casing material, spawn and processed products.



Food for thought!

From the Aztecs to the Marl pits of Limburg to the vast plains in India, mushrooms have probably been eaten for as long as people have walked the face of the earth.

Mushroom is an important export product in the canned vegetables segment. The Dutch mainly buy fresh mushrooms. In total, including both canned and fresh mushrooms,

the Dutch eat 1.2 kilos of mushrooms a year. There are good opportunities in India for both domestic and export market of button

mushrooms. Since thousands of years mushrooms have been revered for their immense health benefits and

extensively used in folk medicine. The increasing awareness means that mushrooms are going to be an important food item in the

coming days and at places it may emerge as a substitute to non-vegetarian foods. Consuming mushrooms is beneficial in every respect. In a single year mushrooms make up meals 1.2 billon times. That’s an awful lot of mushrooms!