Mushroom Growing Centre:
Mushrooms have been valued throughout the world as both food and medicine for thousands of years. They are a rich source of nutrition and form a major chunk of health foods. The centre is involved to promote Mushroom culture among the nearby community specially among the passed out students of the institution.
The primary objective of this programme is:
To enhance the business skills and to inculcate entrepreneurship among the students; since the college is located in a predominantly agricultural area so mushroom farming is selected for the same to develop a sense of familiarity among the youths.
Dr. Kanchan Gogoi, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, the Convener of Mushroom Cultivation Committee, Dhakuakhana College received training from the Mushroom Development Foundation, Guwahati for the purpose. The site selected for the cultivation was old boys’ hostel which is no more in use as a residential building for the male students. The raw material basically used for the cultivation is hay (the plant left over from the paddy cultivation) which is easily available in excessive quantity in the region.
The entire production process was divided into three parts:
1) Preparation of Pure culture
2) Preparation of spawn
3) Preparation of Bed
Initially spawn was procured from Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. This spawn was used for preparation of mushroom bed. Altogether ten (10) beds were prepared by the students. These beds was incubated in perforated culture rack and watered thrice in a day. After fifteen (15) days plastic bag was removed. The pinheads of mushroom observed after two to three (2-3) days of removal of plastic bags. Fully grown mushrooms harvested after one week. Total three (3) flush were taken. Maximum five (5) kg mushroom obtained from the ten (10) beds. One cycle of cultivation gets completed within forty five (45) days including the harvesting of the production.
Benefits of the project:
This mode of oyster mushroom cultivation is very less expensive and very less time consuming. A single slot of cultivation takes duration of forty five (45) days.
Mushroom farming acts as an opportunity of employment generation within limited resources.
The average temperature of the air in the locality of Dhakuakhana is suitable for the Oyster Mushroom cultivation i.e. 25 degree Celsius
The site selected for the cultivation Old boys’ hostel thereby making the reuse of old buildings as income generated avenues
The final harvests of the cultivation earned huge popularity in the market and thereby contributed to the removal of “Mycophobia” the irrational fear and anxiety related to mushroom consumption in the society.