North Bengal University Starts Oyster Mushroom Training Camp For Tea Gardeners

Mushroom cultivation offers a promising avenue for farmers due to its profitable ventures. According to Local18 Bengal, initially, only hilly regions were considered suitable for this cultivation. However, with new and innovative farming techniques, mushrooms are being cultivated in the plains as well. There is no better business than mushroom cultivation if someone wishes to start a business with minimum capital in a short time.

Keeping these factors in mind, the Kopham Department located in the North Bengal University of West Bengal’s Darjeeling, has organised a training camp for the women engaged in tea gardening. In the training camp, the workers are being taught how they can benefit financially from the farming of oyster mushrooms.

There are mainly three types of mushroom cultivation in our country – button, paddy straw and oyster washrooms. Among these types, the oyster mushroom can be easily cultivated at home. The demand for oyster mushrooms is very high in the market and thus most people want to cultivate this type to reap maximum profits. Oyster mushrooms can be cultivated almost throughout the year except in summer. Still, it is better to go for its cultivation between September and March. These vegetables can be kept in dried form for seven to eight months. At the training camp, the trainer Amarendra Pandey said that the oyster mushrooms can be cultivated within 2 months.

According to the trainer, “The women of the tea plantations in Dooars in the northern part of West Bengal are now looking for something new to do besides picking tea leaves. For them, this oyster mushroom cultivation can be very fruitful. Everyone can earn a good income by investing a little capital in less time.” Mr Pandey said that they are making efforts to impart this training in different tea plantation areas of Dooars on behalf of the Kopham Department.

A trainee who joined the workshop expressed his opinion regarding the workshop. According to the trainee, “Today I came to this workshop and learned a lot of new things.” The woman described that these things included how can they become financially independent by growing mushrooms. According to the lady, they also learned how to run a business. At the same time, the trainee said that the oyster mushroom cultivation methods were also taught to them.