Mandeep Singh Randhawa, a farmer from Dhardeo village in Tarsika block, has set an example by setting up an air-conditioned mushroom farm for all season supply at his village.
There are only a few farmers in the state who have set up such high-tech farms and mushroom-processing units.
Mandeep Singh Randhawa, a Mushroom farmer from Dhardeo village in Tarsika block
After installing an AC plant, now we produce mushrooms round-the-year. Mushrooms are a perishable commodity and we can't store these for long. So, a cold storage has also been prepared. When we don't get a good price in the market, we process it. Mushroom pickles are so much in demand that we are unable to meet it at times.
For this achievement, Mandeep shares credit with his mother Harjinder Kaur who started mushroom farming in 1989 to meet her daily household expenses.
“My mother took training from the Punjab Agricultural University and started a small farm at home. It was my first training school. Later, I took professional training from the Directorate of Mushroom Research Solan (HP). Then, I adopted high-tech techniques of mushroom growing, set up a processing unit and established our own mushroom sale counter,” said Randhawa.
After getting training from Solan, Randhawa set up his own compost plant by taking subsidy from the state government. Then, he set up a high-tech Randhawa Mushroom Farm on the main Batala-Jalandhar Highway, near Buttar Seviyan. Madeep constructed an air-conditioned growing section with 12 chambers and steel racks.
“After installing an AC plant, now we produce mushrooms round the year. Mushrooms are a perishable commodity and we can’t store these for long. So, a cold storage has also been prepared. When we don’t get a good price in the market, we process it. Mushroom pickles are so much in demand that we are unable to meet it at times,” said Mandeep.
“Before the Covid-19 outbreak, we used to sell our 70 per cent produce on the sale counter, but now, the demand has reduced to 40 per cent. The pandemic hit agribusiness too. Value addition of the product has saved us otherwise it was hard to meet the expenses,” he said.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/farmers-like-him-provide-mushrooms-round-the-year-303879