Long back in the Year 2012-13 the initiative of making mushroom a priority, meeting both financial burden as well as innovative agri-practice had already begun in the Hili Block of Dakshin Dinajpur. A farmer struggling with routine agriculture processes was shown this path drawing his interest to the utmost, and with his willingness and departmental support this idea has proved itself to be a sustainable as well as profitable one. He started with a small unit at the beginning in the month of December 2012 and earned huge profit. Gradually in the year 2014-15 with his expertise in the market demand, he started making pickles made of mushroom which was largely consumed in market. Continuing the practice he made his own spawn unit in the 2015-16, which reduced the cost of production to a greater extent resulting in larger profit margin. Now he earns about 25,000.00 per month. He has set an example for all those interested farmers nearby, and now mushroom cultivation is a common part of their agri-business. Further in the year 2016-17 the idea was implemented in Mal Block, Jalpaiguri where especially unemployed women and SHG has become a part and parcel of the success stories. It has been observed that investing a mere amount of Rs. 10000/- for production enabled them to make a total sale of Rs. 20000-21000/- (approx.) This high margin of profit attracted several such interested groups as well as individuals to follow and implement the model. In the year 2017-18 the same has also been started by Matiali, Nagrakata Block of Jalpaiguri District, which yielded superb results too.
Utpal Mandal*
Office of the Assistant Director of Agriculture, Mal Block, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal - 736221, INDIA
Mandal, U., 2017. Mushroom cultivation towards income generation and socio-economic status improvement for self help groups (SHGs) and rural un-employed farmers. Innovative Farming 2(3), 179-182.