Engr’s mushroom experiment is a Jammu success story

“I wanted to see if any of these crops can be grown commercially,” says Langer. “Later, someone gave me an idea to go for mushrooms and I raised a permanent shed as per the specifications of the Mushroom Development wing of the J&K Agriculture department.” The department is now seeing the success story as a potential model for replication elsewhere.

Langer started with 200 frames of compost and mushroom spawns in September last year. Now, his mushrooms are being sold in the Jammu mandi. Mushroom Development Officer Ashwani Kumar Dubey says the results have been “encouraging”. The mushrooms are of superior quality, disease free and yield a better crop. The debut alone yielded Langer no less that Rs 50,000.

“I have felt that many of the farmers in the area do not have the means to send their produce to the markets. I am going to form a cooperative and buy vehicles to sell the produce in the market,” says Langer.

The way to increasing income, he adds, is for farmers to turn to high-value crops like mushrooms and broccoli and ensure these delicate vegetables are reached to the market in time. “ I will organise farmers at least in my area to make this possible,” says Langer.