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Krishi Vigyan Kendra in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, S.A.S. Nagar organized one week vocational training programme on ‘Mushroom Cultivation’ at District Administrative Complex, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) . This programme was inaugurated by Dr. Parminder Singh, Associate Director, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mohali. In his inaugural lecture, he said that the consumption of mushroom in Punjab state is only 20 grams whereas it is rich in nutrients like iron, protein etc. So, consumers should need to increase consumption in their diet. He also stressed upon scope and marketing avenues available for mushroom growers in the tricity area. Meanwhile, Dr. Harmeet Kaur informed about the marketing of mushroom varieties. She explained about the health benefits of mushrooms and encouraged them to make it a must-have food. On this occasion, Dr. Parul Gupta imparted training on value added mushroom products mushroom pickle, mushroom powder, biscuit, wafer, marmalade, etc. to earn more profit from marketing of mushroom products. A one-day educational tour was conducted at village Amb Chhapan where progressive farmer Hardeep Singh shared his experience regarding mushroom cultivation with trainees. Ms. Sikha informed that special subsidy on mushroom farming is also being given by Department of Horticulture for this profession. One day exposure visit at Mushroom unit, PAU was also arranged during this training to provide practical experience to the trainees. During the programme Dr. Harjot Singh, Assistant Professor, K.V.K.Barnala as a resource person gave information about the cultivation of Oyster and Paddy Straw mushrooms. He stressed upon cultivation of Shtaki Mushroom due to its acceptance at global level. Dr. Sanjeev Ahuja, Assistant professor, KVK, Rupnagar, stressed upon cultivation of Button and Milky Mushroom. Dr. Munish Sharma, Assistant Professor, Horticulture shed light on the identification of edible and poisonous mushrooms. Dr. Shashi Pal, Assistant Professor, LPM gave detailed lecture on utilization of spent mushroom substrate for vermicompost. Dr. Vikas Phulia, Assistant Professor, KVK, Mohali stressed upon nutritional value of Mushroom. On the last day of training, certificates were distributed to the progressive farmers. Dr. Rajesh Kumar Raheja, Chief Agriculture Officer of the district said that under ATMA scheme there is a provision for organizing such skill development courses. So, interested farmers can contact agriculture department as well as Krishi Vigyan Kendra for attending such skill development courses.
