Mushroom builds health, its farming removes unemployment

Mirza Lipi takes care of mushroom grown at her Himel Mushroom Cultivation Project in Tangail town. PHOTO: STAR

Mushroom is a vegetable which is highly nutritious, tasty and have medicinal qualities.

It contains 25-35 per cent protein, 57-70 per cent vitamin and mineral, 5-6 per cent fat and 4-6 per cent glucose, which strengthens the immune system of human body.

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Mushroom helps to cure high blood pressure, diabetes, gastric, costiveness, jaundice and heart diseases, experts say.

About 2000 varieties of mushroom are found in the world, six of them are eatable. Of the six, only Oyster Hybrid variety mushroom is cultivated in Bangladesh.

Hemel Mushroom Cultivation Project started mushroom seed (spawn) production recently.

The project was inaugurated on August 17 in Kodalia area in Tangail town. Deputy Director of district Agriculture Extension Department (AED) Fazlul Karim and Director (food crop wing) of AED Mohammad Abdul Mannan attended the inauguration.

Mirza Morsheda Akter Lipi, Director of Himel Mushroom Cultivation Project and member of Bangladesh Mushroom Foundation, said mushroom farmers of Tangail had to bring seeds (spawn) from Mushroom Cultivation Project in Savar, Dhaka. This was very costly. The project has been launched here to supply seeds at cheaper rates, she said.

Lipi, trained in mushroom cultivation, said people's conception about mushroom is changing. Its cultivation will be a profitable business as people are now showing interest to food items produced from it.

"Many unemployed youths showed interest in mushroom cultivation but their main problem is training and funding", she told this correspondent during a visit to her farm on Friday.