Fatehgarh Sahib Engineer is a successful Mushroom grower
Fatehgarh shahib-Today expense of doing conventional farming is increasing and income of farmers is reducing. Farmers are forced to liveย financially weak life.ย To improve the conditions of farming the government is encouraging the farmers to adopt alternate farming practices. Because in alternate farming methods crops are grown with less efforts but the financial rewards are high. Horticulture department is giving subsidies to farmers on different crops like vegetables, fruits andย flowers. So farmers should take advantage of producing such crops andย earn good profits.
A village Bhelolpur of our district is witnessing the growth of oneย such mushroom grower Umanshu Puri, who is earning good profits byย cultivating mushrooms. After doing Electrical Engg and MBA, he worked
for 2 years in metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai yet something keptย inspiring him to do of his own.ย While he was still thinking what toย do next he was intrigued by mushroom farming being done by one of hisย friendโs father and he decided to pursue the same. For this he tookย trainings from KVK center Rauni, Punjab agriculture universityย Ludhiana, DMR Solan; after which he did seasonal farming for 2 years.
Since 2015 he has been engaged in full fledged mushroom cultivation inย one acre of land by taking loan of Rs. 1 crore 35 lakh.ย He will alsoย get Rs. 30 Lakh subsidy from NHB.
He told that due to high electricity consumption on ACs the productionย cost of mushroom increase resulting in low profit margins, however, ifย grown in wintersย the average cost of production comes out to Rs. 40/kgย while yearly average ย sale price is between 80-85 Rs/Kg.ย He is making good monthly profit. He is also selling compost bags to other farmersย during winter season. He told that mushroom farming does not requireย large land and in winters mushroom can be cultivated in temporary hutsย made of bamboo. He also told that for growing mushroom compost isย prepared first and then spawn is mixed in it and this mixture is thenย kept in polythene bags for 12 days after which casing soil is spreadย top of these bags. After 20 days the mushroom starts growing from theย bags.
He has employed 18 permanent labors at his farm other than that he employs temporary labors from the village on daily wages basis during the peak season. He is producing around 120-150MT mushroom annually.
He is of the view that although many of the young generation of theย State aspires to go abroad but most of them live there doing menialย jobs and have to compromise with their self respect. And if the youth
of the State tries to adopt alternate method of farmingย as promotedย by the government then they can live equally good life here also.ย He always welcome other small farmers by providing them knowledge of
mushroom growing as a seasonal crop at his farm.
Dr. Rajinder Singh Assistant director, horticulture department and Sandeep Grewal, development officer told that horticulture departmentย gives 20 Lakh rs subsidy on loan amount of Rs, 55 Lakh. They also said
that if farmers adopt mushroom farming then their financial conditionsย will improve. They said nutritional value of mushroom is very high andย people of all ages can include it in their daily diet.
