A Japanese company will help boost cultivation and marketing of the shiitake mushrooms in Meghalaya through the Shiitake Mushroom and Training Centre which was opened today at Upper Shillong.
Funded by the Tribal Affairs Ministry, DONER Ministry and Government of Meghalaya, the project has been completed at the cost of Rs 15.15 crore. The unit is located at Mushroom Development Centre, Upper Shillong.
The project is being implemented in partnership with YATS Corporation Tokyo, a leading global producer of shiitake mushrooms.
As part of this initiative, market linkage through a buy-back mechanism has been put in place through Shillong Shiitake Products Company Ltd (SSPL), a joint venture between YATS Corporation and Hill Farmers’ Shiitake Mushroom Cooperative Society Ltd (HFSMC).
It may be mentioned that Rs 62.37 crore has been earmarked for Mushroom Mission for a period of five years. So far nearly 5000 farmers have benefited from the programme.
The promotion of shiitake mushroom has been envisaged by the Department of Agriculture under the Mushroom Mission with three key pillars in focus – technology, markets and community.
In his inaugural address, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed that with the establishment of the Shiitake Mushroom Production and Training Centre, the target is to help 1000 farmers.
He also said that in a year three cycles of shiitake mushrooms can be farmed with income generation of about one lakh per cycle.
“With a basic calculation we can derive that in just three years, revenue of Rs 117 crore will be earned by our farmers,” he said.
Sangma further encouraged the farmers to take up shiitake mushroom farming as this activity would be only an additional farming as it requires less space for farming with only about 15 days of work per cycle which also requires only basic maintenance.
He added that the market for shiitake mushrooms is already present and the State has potential to supply to the rest of the country while being self-sufficient in it. He further assured the farmers of all assistance from the government.
Stating that the approach of the government has always been to take every section of the society on board as the State moves forward, Sangma said that in the last three years the State government has invested around Rs 700 crore to create value chains and infrastructures for the farmers so that their farming and the products of their activities will be remunerative and economically attractive.
“The investments that we make and the developments that we create will be meaningless if different sections of the society cannot grow along and be a part of the growth story of Meghalaya,” he said.
