Guest lecturer session for Mushroom Grower job role was successfully organized at Don Bosco Tech Thakurmunda Center on October 21, 2022 for the student of batch – 5 Accenture 12. Mr. Sukanta Kumar Sahoo Project coordinator livelihood of Forestry Sector Development of Odisha was invited as the guest lecturer.

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

Mr. Sahoo started the lecture by introducing himself and asked the trainees to introduce themselves. He shared the basic details of mushroom grower and shared his experience how women are not depended now-a-days and they have started earning by themselves through the cultivation of mushroom. By growing mushrooms, women have transformed their luck. Mushroom farming has given them self-confidence, economic independence and an identity. The women mushroom farmers are now respected for earning money and have contributed to change the socio-economic condition of their families he said.

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. September to March is the best season here for cultivation of mushroom.  He has encouraged trainee to grow mushroom in their house with virtually no investment to begin with. Mushroom is easily grown indoors during the winter. He said mushroom growing is easy and does not require a lot of space.

He concluded the lecture by resolving the queries of all the trainees and motivated them to be focused on training and wished them luck their future. The trainees were very happy and were inspired after the guest lecturer and they promised to work hard for their bright future.

The session ended with a hearty thanks to Mr. Sahoo by support domain trainer Mr. Diganta Pattnaik in appreciation for taking the time out to educate the students.