Thirty-Seven farmers managed to harvest 299 kgs of mushrooms and earned a sum of Rs. 59,790. The farmers were found very happy with the intervention, and they planned to cultivate more for a sustainable income from mushrooms.

“We the members of Rigo Colony SHG never understood the value of mushroom. Fortunately, with due support from Itanagar Diocesan Empowerment Association (IDEA) under the FARM Northeast program, we cultivated it for the first time and got a benefitting result instantly. It can be a good Income Generating Process (IGP) for us throughout the year as it has high demand all around. Thank you IDEA for making us understand its value, says Ate Ane, President (Rigo Colony SHG).

Mushroom is a wholesome food because of its nutritional and medicinal properties. Rich in protein dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals, it can be used to serve the nutritional needs of the rural poor. Arunachal Pradesh has a great scope for commercial mushroom cultivation by recycling paddy, millets and maize waste for higher income generation. It can cater to the growing food demand; solve unemployment issues and environmental pollution to a significant extent.

In Arunachal Pradesh, naturally grown mushrooms are consumed widely by the local people. However, due to the short period of availability of naturally growing mushrooms, their commercial cultivation has lots of potential in the state.

More than 75% of the farmers in the state are small and marginal farmers and oyster mushroom cultivation can be of immense importance for ensuring additional income by utilizing available resources like paddy straw.

During the baseline study, it was found that farmers use paddy, millets and maize straw for feeding animals. To make use of straw and generate alternate income from waste; oyster mushroom production was introduced to the farmers of the project area at Sagalee block in Arunachal Pradesh since mushroom cultivation has gained recent traction in Arunachal Pradesh owing to its low input cost. The favourable climatic conditions have provided ample opportunities for the farmers to make mushroom farming as a business for better sustainability.

IDEA carried out the technology demonstration on the Oyster Mushroom Cultivation for its selected farmers comprising all the 12 villages which would help them to consume mushrooms for the whole year. A training programme on “Oyster Mushroom Cultivation” was conducted in September 2021 for 26 farmers to cultivate oyster mushrooms on intact paddy straw with the steam disinfection method and its marketing.

After the training, the IDEA team distributed a bag filled with prepared mushroom bags to find out the possibilities of a successful result in the locality of the farmers. Fortunately, the result benefitted all the farmers. Thus the trainees were been supported with 4 kgs of oyster mushroom spawn & PP bags. Out of the total trainees trained, adding the number up to 37 farmers have initiated the oyster mushroom production units for the first time in their homes.

“I am very happy with the result of the training I availed and continued to practice the cultivation with all my effort. After being trained by IDEA, on the intervention of mushroom cultivation, I conducted a training programme for my neighbour, where I, imparted the skills of mushroom cultivation and trained many farmers in my village. I also promise to encourage farmers in other villages too… “Thank you IDEA for such a wonderful program,” says Mr. Chula.

Hence, team IDEA continued providing guidance and technical support for the scientific cultivation of mushrooms and to overcome any adverse climatic conditions during the period of cultivation. Due to this intervention, 15 lead farmers with low-cost production units are profitably running in villages like Nimte, Rigo & Rach Tabio of the projected area in Sagalee. The farmers expressed interest in mushroom production due to its low investment and management.