Agri-preneurship through Oyster Mushroom Cultivation in Eastern U.P.

Introduction

Mushroom cultivation is now a days become popular among the farmers and consumers because it fulfil the dietary requirements and also becoming an additional source of income. Mushroom provides opportunity especially to those farmers with insufficient land to grow it in multitier/multi-storeys. That’s why it is also popularly known as ‘Kheti bina khet ke’ as well as ‘Generation of wealth from the waste’. Mushroom production technology is women friendly technology and required minimum inputs and labourers. Those who are retired and the women who are homemaker can cultivate mushrooms in small boxes and utilize their time to earn money. When a small quantity of mushroom spawn grown in suitable medium, provide highly profitable crop inside a room within almost three to five weeks, where no others agriculturally important crops would grow. This cultivation can be done indoor in any mud or brick houses/rooms, thatched shed, basement or garages, etc. which should be well ventilated. Mushrooms are highly nutritious products which can mostly grow on lignocelluloses waste materials and are rich in crude fiber and protein. Mushrooms provide more protein than any other vegetables. So, it is also known as vegetable protein¹. Mushrooms are also characterized by low fat and calories with good vitamins. 86 grams of oyster mushrooms contain: 28 calories, 2.9 grams of protein, 5.2 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 0.3 grams of fat².It will provide an additional vegetable of high quality which enrich the diet with high quality proteins, minerals and vitamins that direct benefit human health and fitness³ .

The Present study was undertaken to trained the students and villagers and to determine selected socioeconomic characteristics of the mushroom beneficiaries of concerned area. The study also covers  impact of mushroom cultivation on the mushroom beneficiaries.

Materials and Methods

Production of spawn: Spawn production involves following three steps

Raising of pure culture

Mother spawn preparation

Spawn multiplication.

Raising of Pure culture of mushroom

Pure culture of mushroom was raised by tissue culture method. In this method, a fully grown mushroom was selected and from which a small portion from gill region was taken with the help of forcep. This portion was inoculated in petri-plate containing potato dextrose agar medium under aseptic condition. The mycelium covers the entire surface of petri-plate within a week  and this  culture becomes ready for further multiplication.

Substrate preparation and multiplication

Good quality of wheat grains were taken for substrate preparation. These grains were boiled in water for 20 – 30 minutes. After boiling, the grains become soft. Then these grains were taken out from water after cooling and spread evenly on a cotton cloth to drain out the water. When the excess water drained out, three percent chalk powder (30g / kg of grain) was mixed for adjusting the pH and to keep the grains loose. 250 gm of prepared grain was then filled in cleaned and dried glucose polypropylene bags (PP bags) which were plugged tightly with non absorbent cotton at the mouth of the bag. Sterilization of  these bags were done in autoclave by exposing them to 121⁰C  and 15lbs pressure / sq inch for 20 minutes.

Capacity building programmes on  mushroom cultivation technology

Training programmes were organized for undergraduate students as well as women of villages in selected areas of Eastern U.P. Bhadohi, Chandauli and Varanasi were the places where these training programmes were conducted. Training programme include learning by doing method in which beneficiaries first understand the basics of mushroom cultivation and then exposed to hands on training session.

Collection of data

Primary data : First the beneficiaries were identified on the basis of their education.

Secondary data: Secondary data involve participation by male, female, reason for choosing mushroom cultivation, availability of raw material, source of spawn⁴.

Sampling size

Sampling size is restricted upto 100 for Group I and upto 50 for Group II.

Statistical tool for the study

Simple percentage analysis tool and chi square test is used for the study.

Result

Raising of pure culture

Mother culture of oyster mushroom collected from Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi was raised on potato dextrose agar medium in Research laboratory of Department of Botany, K. N. Govt. P. G. College, Gyanpur, Bhadohi.

Figure 1: Raising of pure culture of mushroom in laboratory Click here to view Figure

Mass multiplication of spawn

Pure culture raised on PDA medium used for mass multiplication by using wheat grain as substrate. 

Figure 2: Mass multiplication of spawn  Click here to view Figure

Capacity building programme in villages and colleges

Training programmes were organized in Bhadohi, Chanduali and Varanasi region in which undergraduate, postgraduate students and villagers participated.

 Table 1: Number of Participants in capacity building programme

Region	Number of Participants
	Group I (Undergraduate students)		Group II
	Male	Female	Male	Female
Bhadohi	36	62	18	14
Chandauli	00	64	12	15
Varanasi	00	67	19	08

*Group I-Undergraduate Students, Group II- Villagers

They learn the mushroom cultivation technology through hands on training session. The spawn multiplied in laboratory distributed among them so that they can establish themselves as an entrepreneur.

Table 2: Survey on different attributes after receiving training on mushroom cultivation (Simple percentage of participants)

Region	Attributes	Category	Group I	Group II
Bhadohi	Reason for selection of mushroom cultivation	Profit	25	17
		Demand	22	13
		Availability of raw material	18	06
		All the above	45	64
	Availabilty of raw material	Yes	97	98
		No	03	02
	Source of spawn	Prepared by themselves	88	04
		Purchased by Government Department	12	96
	Sterilization technique	Chemical	100	55
		Natural	00	45
Chandauli	Reason for selection of mushroom cultivation	Profit	12	07
		Demand	10	05
		Availability of raw material	08	05
		All the above	36	10
	Availabilty of raw material	Yes	97	98
		No	03	02
	Source of spawn	Prepared by themselves	88	04
		Purchased by Government Department	12	96
	Sterilization technique	Chemical	100	55
		Natural	00	45
Varanasi	Reason for selection of mushroom cultivation	Profit	25	17
		Demand	22	13
		Availability of raw material	18	06
		All the above	45	64
	Availabilty of raw material	Yes	97	98
		No	03	02
	Source of spawn	Prepared by themselves	88	04
		Purchased by Government Department	12	96
	Sterilization technique	Chemical	100	55
		Natural	00	45

Table 3: Relationship between group and profit in mushroom cultivation (Chi square Test)

Observed Frequencies
Column Variable
Region	Row Variable	Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree
Bhadohi	Group I	42	36	18	02
	Group II	12	15	04	01
Chandauli	Group I	20	32	12	00
	Group II	10	15	02	00
Varanasi	Group I	36	28	03	00
	Group II	12	14	01	00

* The chi-square statistic is 8.3333. The p-value is .50094. The result is not significant at p < .05.

Discussion

Mushroom cultivation technology is an ecofriendly technique. Many mushroom species have medicinal properties too. Agricultural wastes like paddy straw, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse in Bangladesh are being lost by improper utilization which is about 30%⁵. These waste can be utilized as substrate in Mushroom cultivation technology which would be a source of additional income for families on small scale farms with the active participation of members. So for this purpose, the culture raised in laboratory were distributed among the participants of capacity building programmes.

It has been observed that over 70% of agricultural products have not been used to total productivity, which finally discarded as waste⁶. Because of the recent pandemic, unemployment is rising quickly in both industrialized and developing nations. For tiny, marginally impoverished farm households in this scenario, self-employment can be a significant means of increasing employment rates in order to create jobs and earn additional income. The students and villagers can easily cultivate mushroom at their houses as it requires small piece of land. Findings from table 1 showed that mainly females from Group I and males from Group II participated in the capacity building programmes. Findings from table 2 explain that participants of Bhadohi, Chandauli and Varanasi region have the availability of raw material, spawn availability and they can sterilize the substrate by chemical methods. So the interpretation from the data is mushroom cultivation might serve as path of generating employment, especially for rural women and youths which in turn help to raise their social status (Table 3). It will also provide additional source of income to the farmers during winter months when the farming schedule is light. Farmers can contribute significantly to the economic development through this technology and become a successful agripreneur. So, mushroom cultivation plays a vital role for socio-economic development of mushroom growers.

Conclusion

Oyster mushroom production technique is cost effective technique and requires minimum labour. These capacity building programmes skilled the undergraduate, postgraduate students and villagers in mushroom production technique. 

Acknowledgement

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Department of Higher Education, Uttar Pradesh, India for granting fund to carry out this research.

Funding Source

Department of Higher Education, Uttar Pradesh, India (letter no.संख्या-107/2021/2584/सत्तर—4-2021-4(28)/2021)

Conflict of Interest

The authors do not have any conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

This statement does not apply to this article.

Ethics Statement

This research did not involve human participants, animal subjects, or any material that requires ethical approval.

Author contributions

Rashmi Singh: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft.

Sudarshan Maurya: Writing – Review & Editing.

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