The simple laws of economics tells
us when the supply is low, the demand increases. But Assam seems to be an
exception in this regard as when the supply is low, the people seem to stop
consuming all together. For example the supply of dairy products in low but
this further drives down the demand. Similar is the case of mushrooms.
Mushrooms have been a rare cultivation in SeSTA’s intervened villages. There
has been just one of the associated farmers currently cultivating Mushrooms and
his story so far is nothing less than astonishing.
Manoranjan Barman from Kashikotra
has been gifted with good farming skills. He has always produced more Paddy
than any of the other farmers and has the maximum productivity (10 tons per
hect) in whole of Chirang. He cultivates the crops using SRI technique by the
book which was introduced to him by SeSTA in 2008. SeSTA gave him a platform to
link with the local Agriculture District Office to obtain all the support for
implementing SRI. Looking at his impressive figures, he has received DC
Kajalgaon, Bololand and Kokrajhar awards for the Best Farmer. SeSTA had
recognized his talents and has used his assistance in giving training on SRI practices
to many SHG groups and influencing close to 300 farmers to implement SRI method
of agriculture.
Upon his constant journey of
learning, he was introduced to Mushrooms from the Kisan Vigyan Kendra. The idea
impressed him and they provided him with the Spons, the bags and Paddy straw to
initiate the Mushroom cultivation. He did initially face certain problems in
the downstream value chain, as there was not much demand for mushrooms. Hence
the price offered to him for Oyster Mushroom ranged around Rs 100/Kg compared to
Rs 400-500 /Kg in Guwahati. But facing these challenges head on, he not only
managed to sell off his entire harvest but also create a good demand of
Mushrooms throughout the village. He earned more than Rs 1 lakh after selling
off his first cultivation of Mushrooms.
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| Manoranjan with his Mushrooms |
Manoranjan is not only successful
in his Mushroom cultivation, but he has also been actively involved with SeSTA
in providing exposure to the technique. He has given trainings on Mushroom
cultivation in close to 9 SHGs associated with SeSTA in Nalbari, Asrabari,
Garubhasa, Runikhata, Bamungaon, Basugaon etc. “1 Kg of Spon yields close to 6
Kgs of dried mushroom. Moreover, to start the cultivation, you just need Spon
(Rs 150/KG), 8 bags (Rs 8/bag) and Paddy straw (Rs 30-40). If the demand of
mushrooms increases in future, we will surely get a better price than Rs
100-150 that we get for oyster mushrooms now” said Manoranjan. SeSTA’s
executives have also been spreading awareness on Mushrooms as a possible source
of income and it has been kick started in Kadamtola block of Chirang. Although
the marketing is a big concern for Mushrooms, but once the supply kicks in, the
prices are sure to adjust compared to the levels in Guwahati and other
districts.
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