Aiming to bolster diversification via horticulture and auxiliary occupations, a 20-member delegation comprising farmers and officials from the Horticulture Training Institute, Uchani village, Karnal district in Haryana, visited the Skill Development Centre at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.
Dr Rupinder Kaur, Associate Director (Skill Development), said that this one-day training course presented a comprehensive overview of the allied-agriculture enterprise ‘mushroom production,’ the graph of which was at all time high in Punjab. The development of apt mushroom varieties and technologies by the PAU’s Department of Microbiology, and the skill enhancement of farming community on mushroom cultivation have skyrocketed the success of mushroom production in Punjab, she told.
Explaining the growing significance of mushroom cultivation, Dr Shivani Sharma, Mycologist, observed that easy availability of raw material, less investment and more profits have made this family-farmer oriented occupation, the most sought after in Punjab. “The cultivation of white button mushroom is the most popular among the Punjab farmers,” she said, while adding that the PAU evolved ready-to-fruit bags of mushroom compost have scaled-up the supply of quality compost to the state farmers.
Dr Prerna Kapila, while proposing a vote of thanks, apprised the visiting delegates of the training courses conducted by PAU for honing the skills of peasants and their families.
Later, the delegation visited the mushroom farm and the Museum of Rural Life of Punjab at PAU.
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