Mushroom cultivation to grow 10 times in 5 yrs

New Delhi, Apr 12 (UNI) In view of growing demand and interest shown by marginal farmers, mushroom production in the country is expected to multiply 10 times to touch five lakh tonnes per annum in the next five years from current level of 50,000 tonnes per annum.

A paper brought out by Assocham on Potential for Mushrooms Exports,' it has also been forecast that in next five years of 2000 known edible mushrooms variety grown worldover, India's mushroom cultivation variety will reach at least 700 from current species variety of 280.

The domestic mushroom production will multiply not only because of the increasing demand but also due to cheaper labour cost involved and the new Foreign Trade Policy which encourages growth of new varieties, Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot said.

The current state which has taken a lead in mushroom production is Tamil Nadu which will multiply its mushroom production from about 10,000 tonnes per annum to at least one lakh tonnes in next five years followed by Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu region, said the Assocham analysis.

Haryana, Uttarakhand and Punjab are producing mushrooms of about 15,000 tonnes per annum.

The chamber also found that over 50 companies from overseas are tapping the mushroom growth potential in the states and trying to work out agreements with their local counterparts for large capacities.

Agro Dutch industries, a Chandigarh-based firm accounts for 80 per cent of fresh mushrooms exported from India. The company has steadily expanded its annual processing capacity from 3,000 tonnes to 36,000 tonnes. Likewise, Himalaya International Ltd is the second largest producer of mushrooms in the country.

The country' exports are projected to grow to Rs 170 crore by 2010 from Rs 139 crore in 2005-06.

Exports of mushrooms during the period 2002-03 to 2005-06 registered a steady growth. The figures reached Rs 138.48 crore in 2005-06, up by 106.7 per cent as against Rs 67.28 crore in 2002-03.

Prepared/preserved mushrooms continue to dominate exports. In 2005-06, the segment accounted for a share of 56.96 per cent of total mushrooms exports.

The United States continues to be a major market for Indian mushrooms, accounting for 51.45 per cent share of total mushroom exports in 2005-06. Mexico, France, Holland, Russia and Switzerland showed a growth of 2694.12 per cent, 951.37 per cent, 133.85 per cent, 125.32 per cent and 120.83 per cent in 2005-06.

UNI