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 May 20, 2023 for the student of batch – 1 of Accenture 2023-24. Mr. Manoj Kumar Jena Project Coordinator (Agriculture) of JSW Foundation 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. Manoj Kumar Jena to deliver the lecture.

He described how Mushroom production provides an ideal opportunity for conversion of agro-waste into wealth, quality food and organic manure and leads to high range of reduction in environmental pollution. Mushroom being an indoor crop provides vast opportunities for empowering rural and urban women through cultivation, production of value-added products and marketing. It also provides vast opportunities for unemployed youths to take up mushroom cultivation and marketing.

He gave a lecture on the importance of mushrooms, nutritional properties of mushroom and cultivation of mushrooms. He also demonstrated the techniques of mushroom cultivation. The first step before starting cultivation is to procure or produce spawn of good quality. Second step is to prepare the substrate of good quality. As we will see in subsequent chapters that method of preparing substrate differs with the type of mushroom to be cultivated. Method of spawning, that is mixing of spawn in compost, and amount of spawn required will also vary in different mushrooms. The third step is cropping. After spawn run, that is allowing the fungus to spread throughout the substrate, we take steps to induce formation of mushrooms. In some cases it is required to put a layer of casing material whereas in other cases fruiting can be obtained as such. In all cases, to induce fruiting some sort of change is required.

He said In India; mushroom cultivation in rural areas has emerged as an important activity for educated, school dropouts, women, landless people, etc. Considering the demand for quality foods, mushroom cultivation has emerged as an important avocation and this training will give them the opportunity to gain farming skills, financial independence, and self-respect.

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