ICAR-DMR organizes 22nd Mushroom Fair

10^th September, 2019, Solan

The ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan organized a “National Mushroom Fair” today. The event was organized to commemorate the 22^nd Year of declaration of Solan as the Mushroom City of India.

The Chief Guest, Dr. A.K. Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticulture Science), ICAR applauded the efforts made by Dr. V.P. Sharma, Director, ICAR-DMR and his team for up-scaling the laboratory studies to the level of commercial scale technologies.

The Special Guests, Dr. Parvinder Kaushal, Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan; Dr. Manjit Singh, Former Director, ICAR-DMR and Dr. B.K. Pandey, Principal Scientist, Horticulture Science Division, Krishi Anusandhan Bhawan-II, Pusa, New Delhi deliberated on the mushrooms’ role in doubling the farmers’ income and its ability to fight the problem of malnourishment in the Indian population.

Dr. V.P. Sharma, briefed about the details on the Directorate’s contributions in bringing the rapid transformation in the mushroom production in the country from a mere 40,000 MT in 1994 to 1,81,000 MT by the Year - 2018-19.

The Directorate showcased its latest technologies for the direct benefit of the mushroom growers during the occasion. These included the cultivation technology of the most prized medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris; bottle cultivation technology of winter mushroom and improved varieties of oyster, shiitake and paddy straw mushrooms, etc.

The Kisan Goshthi organized during the occasion provided the farmers, mushroom growers and extension workers with an opportunity to interact face-to-face with the scientists and experts of ICAR-DMR on various mushroom related problems.

Around 6 farmers from the different states were honored for adopting the innovative technologies and contributions made in the mushroom production.

More than 40 government and private entrepreneurs, mushroom growers and NGOs exhibited their products and around 1,200 farmers from 17 different states participated in the fair.

(Source: ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan)