Mushroom cultivation can boost women farmers’ income, help fight malnutrition

Team girl power projecT

IIn 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,

mushroom powder and pickles are being prepared by them. A sizable amount of the processed products are being marketed in the local market, while a part of the dehydrated products are being consumed in the farm families.

To address the need of entrepreneurship pertaining to women in rural areas of Jharkhand, Girl Power project, implemented by the All India Institute of Local Self Government and funded by the European Union, conducted a three-day training program on mushroom production and value addition, as it was among the products identified for training and entrepreneurship promotion among rural women during the baseline survey carried out in 10 districts of Jharkhand. The three-day training program was conducted in Konar Village Extension, Churchu block, Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, which concluded on October 2. In this training programme, 39 female beneficiaries participated. Jharkhand Mahila Utthan, a CSO working in Hazaribag district of Jharkhand, facilitated the training. Nilam Besra, Secretary, Jharkhand Mahila Utthan, welcomed the guests, resource persons, and participants, and addressed the need of the programme. The Girl Power team then discussed the objective of the project, purpose of training, and shared the expected outcome of the project with the beneficiaries. The training session was started by Ruben Lakra, a certified mushroom trainer. He stressed upon why mushroom cultivation could become an important subsidiary occupation for small and landless farmers by helping them enhance their income and livelihood. He further said that mushroom is an indoor crop that can be cultivated by utilizing vertical spaces and involves low-cost techniques. With the change in lifestyle and people becoming accustomed to healthy food habits, the consumption of mushrooms is increasing at a faster pace. One of the main reasons for this is that it has an abundance of health benefits. On the second and third day of the training, Sangeeta Nayak, a certified mushroom trainer, explained about the origin, characteristics, importance and cultivation practices for production of paddy straw mushroom to the beneficiaries. Cultivation practices for production of paddy straw mushroom

Three-inch long paddy straws are soaked in clean and cold water for 12 hours. Then, using a chemical method, the substrate is soaked in a solution of formalin, Bavistin, and water. This helps to suppress the growth and multiplication of moulds in the substratum. After this, the straws are kept in a slanting manner upside down to drain off excess water in a shadow place. Later, platforms are made using straws in which seeds are sprinkled and kept in single-use polythene bags. Some holes are made in the poly-bags for the mushrooms to sprout. After this, the bags are tied and kept in a humid place. The straw is covered and the bags are hung with a string at a gap of 30 cm from each other. Within 30 days, small growth appears and the first flush of mushrooms is harvested after five to six days. Thus, within four to five weeks, mushrooms will be available for marketing. The trainer also taught the beneficiaries the complete method of harvesting. Further, the trainers also explained that the mushrooms should be kept in a clean house away from insects and rats which can damage them and also can cause infections, if consumed.

Training outcomes

After the training, the beneficiaries will be able to select important types of mushroom for cultivation; produce value added products like mushroom pickle, powder, papad and other edible items; and effectively manage small business enterprises based on mushroom production and value addition. Thus, mushroom based enterprises will provide vast opportunities for empowering rural and urban women through cultivation, production of value added products and their marketing.

October is dedicated to better urbanisation

NEW DELHI: Greater equality, access to services and new possibilities, as well as engagement and mobilisation that represent the diversity of cities, countries, and the globe, are all potential outcomes of urbanisation. However, this is not always the case with urban development. Inequality and exclusion are rampant, with rates often exceeding the national average, at the price of long-term growth that benefits everyone.

The month of October is dedicated to urban challenges and sustainable development, with various meetings, conversations, and events taking place throughout the world. Individuals, organisations, cities, communities, and governments at all levels are urged to participate in events that focus on the challenges and solutions that cities, towns, and communities face. The month of October kicks off with the World Habitat Day and wraps up with the World Cities Day.

United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN Habitat) organizes various events in this month to observe Urban October. This year, Daring Cities 2021 Global Virtual Forum was organised between October 4 and October 8, which is a global virtual forum for urban leaders taking on the climate emergency. The 2021 edition offered an exciting five-day program featuring 20 sessions, including strategic high-level dialogues, handson training sessions for policy makers and practitioners, as well as a variety of networking opportunities.

The 3rd Economic Forum was organised on October 4 and October 5 as UN’s partner event. It focused on how to deliver adequate and affordable housing and healthy environments as vehicles for urban economic recovery to achieve the SDGs and make cities sustainable. The 15th edition of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was organised from October 3 to October 7. Building on the theme of UNCTAD last year, this year’s theme ‘From inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all’ tried to seek a concrete decade of action in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

As part of partner events, UN organised the second Marmara Urban Forum online in collaboration with Marmara Municipalities Union between October 1 and October 3. It was an attempt to create an endeavor to create an exchange and dialogue platform among the public and private sector, NGOs, universities, local governments and all other stakeholders, where it focused on looking for radical solutions to today’s urban problems. For the first time ever, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) organised a Sustainable Urbanisation Forum in the first week of October. The multi-stakeholder forum was dedicated to promoting sustainable urbanisation in the region and promoting connectivity, knowledge sharing, and learning opportunities for ASEAN member states, cities, and people. The World Energy Week Live, organised between October 5 and October 7 this year, convoked energy leaders for peer exchange and interactive conversation on climate neutral and carbon positive energy developments, which are evident in all world regions.

The World Habitat Day, celebrated on the first Monday of October every year, highlights the state of our towns and cities, as well as the basic right of adequate shelter for all. The theme for this year was ‘Accelerating urban action for a carbon-free world’.

The World Metropolitan Day was celebrated on October 7, where Metropolis and UN-Habitat together organised an event on this year’s theme ‘Resilience for all: creating caring metropolises beyond COVID-19’ where ideas and solutions were exchanged on how to create more caring and resilient metropolitan spaces. The month culminates with the World Cities Day on October 31. The overall theme for the day is ‘Better City, Better Life’ and the theme this year is ‘Adapting Cities for Climate Resilience’.

Scientists create whitest paint

WEST LAFAYETTE: Scientists from the United States University, in a pioneering research, have created the world’s ‘whitest paint’. The white color of the paint reflects 98.1 per cent of solar light as compared to commercial white paint, reflecting only 80-90 per cent of the heat of sunlight. It also emits infrared heat, which can cool the area around buildings. The team that created the paint was led by Xiulin Ruan, a professor of mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

The white paint absorbs less heat than the heat emitted from the Sun, through which, the use of air conditioners can be reduced. Commercial paints designed to reject heat reflect only 80-90 per cent of the sunlight but fail to make surfaces cooler than their surroundings. Purdue University said in an official statement that the typical commercial white paint after drying off gets warmer rather than cooler.

The developers of the paint said that covering a roof area of about 1000 square feet using the paint can generate upto 10 kilowatts of cooling power. They added that this is more powerful than air conditioners used in most houses. The ‘whitest paint’ also earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for being so white.

Millions of children in South Asia at loss due to remote learning

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that hundreds of millions of children in South Asia are presently suffering because their schools have been closed due to coronavirus and they lack online devices and connections for remote learning. UNICEF has asked authorities to prioritize safe reopening of schools.

According to the UN agency, even before the pandemic, nearly 60 per cent of children in the densely populated region were unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. George Laryea-Adjei, Regional Director for South Asia, UNICEF, said that school closures in South Asia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic have further aggravated the issue of accessibility to education. He said that it has forced hundreds of millions of children and their teachers to transition to remote learning in a region with low connectivity and low device affordability. Even at times when a family has access to technology, children are not always able to access it. As a result, children have been suffering enormous setbacks in their learning journey, he added.

In its report based on research conducted in India, the Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, UNICEF said that due to school closures since the pandemic started, over 434 million children have been affected in South Asia. The report added that significant populations of children were learning considerably less in comparison to prepandemic levels. It noted that 80 per cent of children aged 14 to 18 in India reported lower levels of learning than when they attended schools physically. Moreover, 42 per cent of children aged six and 13 reported that they were not having any remote learning during the closure of physical schools.

DME to generate over Rs 1000 crore monthly

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, informed that the world’s longest expressway in India will generate `1000-1500 crore monthly when it becomes operational in 2023. He also termed the National Highways Authority of India as a ‘goldmine’ for generating income. Besides the turnover, the Delhi-Mumbai expressway (DME) will also reduce travel time between the two metro cities from 24-26 hours to 12-13 hours. Gadkari also added that NHAI, which is spearheading the road infrastructure drive in the country, will rake in `1.40 lakh crore in the next five years, which is `40,000 crore currently.

BMC completes 40% of its coastal road project

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed the construction of a one-kilometer long tunnel with a diameter of 40-feet under the Malabar Hill in South Mumbai, which amounts to almost 40 per cent of the Coastal Road Project, worth `12,000 crore. According to Iqbal Singh Chahal, Commissioner, BMC, only 900 meters of tunnels are remaining now and the project will be completed in November 2023. As per BMC’s website, the civic body has envisioned the Mumbai Coastal road project to relieve congestion on existing roads.

GVMC to launch ‘model ward’ program

Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is going to launch a ‘model ward’ program in collaboration with Dhan Foundation, a nongovernment organization. This program would be useful for comprehensive development and will spread awareness on best practices concerning women’s empowerment. G Hari Venkata Kumari, Mayor, GVMC, said that an awareness drive should be conducted in schools on topics related to drug abuse, communication skills and others. Under this program, few wards will be adopted and free medical tests will be provided to the members of these wards.

SDMC sets up real-time project tracking system

South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has set up a web-enabled Project Information and Cost Estimation (PRICE) system, which will enable the civic body to surveil and track various ongoing projects with the engineering department on a real-time basis. This system will facilitate proficient and transparent working of departments, an SDMC official said. “It has always been difficult to monitor and keep track of the departmental operations manually, but with this webenabled workflow system, it would be easier to keep a tab on all sorts of activities being carried out in different departments under SDMC,” the official added.

Most infants in 91 countries are malnourished: Report

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a report titled ‘Fed to Fail? The Crisis of Children’s Diets in Early Life’. The report said that a combination of crises due to COVID-19, conflict and the climate breakdown had stunted progress on children’s nutrition in 91 countries.

The report said that 50 per cent of children aged from six to 23 months across developing countries were not fed the minimum number of daily meals, and even fewer proportions of those children had a diverse diet that could meet their minimum body requirements.

According to the study, nutrition was worst for children in rural or poorer families. It stated that the diets of 62 per cent of the children aged between six and 23 months in Latin America and the Caribbean met the minimum diversity requirements, whereas less than a quarter of the children in Africa and only 19 per cent in South Asia had their minimum diversity requirements met. Additionally, many families are buying their food rather than producing it themselves, even in rural areas, which has made people more dependent on food systems that do not address the dietary needs of people. The report established that only a third of children less than two years of age in many developing countries are fed what they need for healthy growth. Moreover, no visible progress has been made on improving their nutrition over the past decade.

Qu Dongyu, Director-General, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, commented that many of the current agri-food practices are exacting a heavy toll on the planet. “Our agri-food systems are not functioning properly,” he added. According to Dongyu, the key is to transform the system that delivers food from tillage to table and would rest on actions taken at the local and international levels.

Tamil Nadu signs MoUs to create 41,000 jobs

CHENNAI: The Government of Tamil Nadu signed 24 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with industries that are to bring an investment of `2,120.54 crore to the state. This investment will create more than 40,000 jobs for the people of Tamil Nadu.

These MoUs were signed at the Tamil Nadu Exports Conclave which is organized as part of the ‘Trade and Commerce Week’ from September 20 to 26. The event was organized to commemorate the 75th Independence Day and the MoUs were signed in the presence of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin. The investments will be made in textiles, chemicals, IT (Information Technology), steel, leather, apparel and general manufacturing sectors.

CM Stalin also released the Tamil Nadu Exports Promotion Strategy and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Exporters handbook. An exclusive park will also be created in the state and will be established on 240 acres at Voyalur near Ponneri in order to cater to the needs of the polymer industry. Thangam Thennarasu, Minister of Industries, Government of Tamil Nadu, said that the MoUs would help the state government in realising its target of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030. He added that the state needs to put more effort into giving impetus to exports. Out of the total 24 MoUs, 14 were signed with 100 per cent export-oriented units, which account for a total investment of `1,880.54 crore. Other MoUs have been signed on behalf of the Department of MSMEs with a cumulative investment of `240 crore. Through this advancement, it is expected that over 39,150 persons and 2,545 individuals will be provided with a job.