Girl Power Project
Mushroom cultivation can boost women farmers’ income, help fight malnutrition Team girl power project
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In Jharkhand, mushrooms are cultivated organically and are widely consumed by the local people. Mushroom is highly perishable i.e., their shelf life is shorter since they lack chlorophyll and have heterotrophic mode of nutrition. They live on dead matter as they are saprophytes and vary widely in shape and size. Mushroom cultivation enterprise can also play a significant role in alleviation of poverty through generation of additional employment in rural areas. The different types of mshroom are: ♦♦ Paddy Straw Mushroom ♦♦ White Button Mushroom ♦♦ Portobello Mushroom
♦♦ Oyster Mushroom Paddy straw mushroom is an edible mushroom of the tropics and subtropics which is also known as warm mushroom as it grows in relatively high temperature. They were first cultivated in China and were later introduced in countries like Malaysia, Philippines, and other South-East Asian countries by Chinese traders and travellers. In India, it was cultivated in early 1940’s and approximately 19 edible species have been recorded but cultivation method of only three have been devised. It is one of the fastest growing mushrooms and under favourable conditions, their total crop cycle is completed within a month. They grow in temperatures ranging from 35-40 degree Celsius.
Nutritional value of mushrooms
Mushroom helps to eliminate malnutrition among people having cereals as staple food. They are lowcalorie food, also known as vegetable meat or white vegetables, and are loaded with various health benefits. They are a rich source of protein, vitamin, minerals and fibres and are recognized as an important part of any diet. Mushrooms have low starch content, no cholesterol and have low calories. The anti-inflammatory properties in mushroom have improved the efficiency of the human immune system. They also contain medicinal properties, including anti-HIV, anticancer activities, hypocholestemic, hypolipidermic and antihypertension effects. Mushrooms also have other health benefits. The folic acid present in them helps in curing anemia and mushrooms are also suitable for people suffering from diabetes, obesity and hyper-tension.
Potential of mushrooms cultivation and value addition in Jharkhand
Due to the limited time of availability of mushroom, cultivation of mushrooms has a lot of potential in the state. Approximately, 84 per cent of the farmers in the state are small and marginal and paddy straw mushroom cultivation can help them in securing an additional income by utilizing accessible resources such as paddy straw. As per the assessment, the availability of paddy straw indicates that nearly 38 per cent of the total paddy straw produced in the state remains unutilized. The different value added products like dried mushroom,
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October 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
