Participants at the one day training workshop on mushroom cultivation in Patkai Christian College (Autonomous) on November 6.
Dimapur, November 6 (MExN): A one-day training workshop on mushroom cultivation was held in Patkai Christian College (Autonomous) on November 6.
Targeted at the womenfolk in the campus and the two neighbouring villages of Chümoukedima and Seithekema, the master trainers for the workshop – Avono Savino and Dr Reingamla Tetso – while introducing the concept of the training gave a broad description on the study of mushrooms and went on to explain its health benefits as well as its economic viability.
Edible mushrooms are not just delicacies, Savino said, explaining that they have been found to have anticarcinogenic properties. It is also low in calories, cholesterol and sodium content besides being fat free and therefore, ideal for people with high blood pressure, she added.
Dr Tetso, speaking on the economic viability of cultivating mushrooms, said it needed little investment or labour and once cultivated, it could be harvested within a month. “Cultivating 10 kgs of spawn can reap benefits of up to Rs. 18,000,” she told the participants, explaining that this calculation was made based on estimates that she and her students had come up with.
Dr Tetso went on to give a hands-on demonstration of cultivating mushrooms. Participants were later given a packet of spawn each to encourage them to take up mushroom cultivation.
The training was organised by the college’s Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) in collaboration with the Department of Botany.
