1st Guest lecturer session for Mushroom Grower job role was successfully organized at Don Bosco Tech Thakurmunda Center on “providing students a better understanding on cultivation of Mushroom Grower as a learning specialization” on June 29, 2022 for the student of batch – 1 Accenture 12. Mr. Jogendra Sahu Field Officer of Horticulture Department Govt. of Odisha was invited as the guest lecturer. He is an efficient person of production of vegetables & fruits of Horticulture Department.

The guest lecture began with welcome address by the domain trainer Mr. Jagadish Prasad Swain. He has introduced and welcomed Mr. Jogendra Sahu to deliver the lecture.

He described Mushrooms are long been valued as high medicinal and nutritional food by many societies around the world. Mushrooms are used in Ayurveda & folk medicine in India. India is a largely agricultural Country and producing a huge quantity of agro –wastes every year. Agro –Wastes used for mushroom cultivation.

He has briefed types of mushroom in India. Mushroom is used as non-traditional cash crop and commonly cultivated species in Odisha are oyster mushroom, paddy-straw mushroom and white button mushroom. The impacts of the mushroom business on livelihoods and poverty reduction are significant and wide-spread. Mushroom cultivation does not require a lot of land and significant capital investment and the scale of cultivation can be large or small based on the capital and labor availability. It can be cultivated on a part-time basis with little maintenance. Indirectly, mushroom cultivation also provides opportunities for improving the sustainability of small farming systems. Women, elders and children can actively engage in the cultivation.

It is always a wonderful experience when the trainees are encountered with an expert of a specific field during the guest lecture session. It is a learning juncture where the participants have different FAQs on the real-world life experiences. Mr. Sahu said now for a mission to enhance female empowerment, several programs have been running through mushroom production by giving them the opportunity to gain farming skills, financial independence, and self-respect.

Mr. Sahu summed up the session by answering queries and he has advised the trainees for cultivate mushroom as business purpose and wishes them for better future. The session ended with a hearty thanks to Mr. Sahu by support domain trainer Mr. Diganta Pattnaik in appreciation for taking the time out to educate the students.