Mushroom farming turns Lalmuni into the list of top Asian farmers

Patna, Apr 21 (UNI) Lalmuni Devi, a semi literate daily wage earner in Azadnagar village in the district, now figures in the list of among top 25 Asian farmers following her adoption of mushroom farming under the guidance of Indian Council of Agriculture and Research(ICAR).

For poor Lalmuni, it was the challenge to survive on her farming skill alone as she had no land of her own and finally decided to opt for mushroom farming with an initial investment of Rs 500 only. This small step ultimately resulted in her name finding mention as an 'inspirational' and 'enterprising' farmer among the top 25 from Asia in Mexican Gallery of the CIMMYT, a well known Mexico based institute engaged largely in research for improvement of maize and wheat crops.

Lalmuni recalls that the turning point in her new profession came when a group of instructors from ICAR taught her the skills to grow mushroom.

''The method taught by ICAR instructors appealed to me as it did not require any land.I learnt to grow mushrooms in my house and later found that they yielded good profit,''she said.

Deciphering the reasons, why her indigenous method of mushroom cultivation has been widely acclaimed, Lalmuni says she uses balls of wheat husks and rotten hay to grow the mushrooms.

Packed in polythene bags, the balls are arranged in rows under her thatched roof which nourishes the oyster mushroom shoots in humid setting.

For the first two years, ICAR provided free seeds but now she has to purchase it from this institute at Rs 60 a Kg. One Kg of seed yields 12 to 14 Kg of mushrooms.

Lalmuni says that winter variety fetches Rs 60-70 per Kg while summer variety fetches Rs 80-120 per Kg.''It just takes about four weeks for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with just a little effort,'' she added.

In her village, Lalmuni is not alone in this venture these days as 22 other women of the same village have also taken to mushroom cultivation.She also inspired men to adopt mushroom farming.

UNI