Himachal Pradesh: Mushroom farmers suffer heavy blow due to coronavirus

The farmers involved in mushroom cultivation in Himachal Pradesh are suffering huge losses due to coronavirus-induced lockdown. The mushroom farmers are unable to get proper prices and also because of fewer buyers the farmers are not able to store them for a longer period.

Solan (Himachal Pradesh): The coronavirus outbreak has brought many industries in the country on their knees, farmers involved in the cultivation of mushrooms in Himachal Pradesh's Solan are facing a similar crisis.

The Open Research Directorate established in Solan city supplies new varieties of mushrooms to the world, but this year the corona epidemic has severely affected the mushroom business. Solan has been conferred with the title of the “Mushroom City of India” nearly 23 years ago for outstanding research carried out by the DMR.

Dr VP Sharma, Director, said that the mushroom farmers are unable to get proper prices due to the corona lockdown. The raw material for mushroom production is also not available during the lockdown. Around three lakh farmers cultivate mushrooms across the country and two lakh tonnes of mushrooms are produced annually in the country.

He said that out of the produce, 74 per cent is white button mushroom, 12 per cent dhingari mushroom, 12 per cent pedistra mushroom and two per cent milky mushroom and shitake mushroom are produced in the country.

Dr Sharma said that mushroom has 90 per cent of water, due to which the mushroom does not last long.

He further says that seasonal and control environment mushrooms are produced year-round throughout the country. Seasonal mushrooms are produced more in northern India.

This mushroom is produced from October to February and about 60 per cent of the farmers in the country produce this mushroom. The lockdown has not only had a significant impact on seasonal growers, but dhingari mushroom has also been affected in states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, which grow control environment mushrooms.

Due to the lockdown, in March only 50% of the mushroom have been sold this time. There has been a loss of productivity of 30 per cent of mushrooms in India, which has so far been estimated at 500 to 600 crores. Due to the lack of labour and raw material, the effect of mushroom cultivation has been different. China is at the forefront of mushroom cultivation worldwide.

China is India's competitor in the field of mushrooms. Now farmers have demanded that more import duty should be imposed on mushrooms coming from China, so that India's mushroom can get a better price.