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<br>It doesn’t take up much space (can be grown vertically), uses less water and energy than other crops, and above all-grows on agricultural waste. Ravi Prakash Maurya, a farmer in Uttar Pradesh is cultivating ‘black crops’ – rice, wheat, tomato, niger seeds, turmeric and potato – all with one thing in common, their colour and presence of antioxidants. Here’s why he’s promoting black potatoes across India. If these aren’t good enough reasons to grow and eat mushrooms, what else could be? What if I told you that you could successfully grow them on your terrace without expensive, imported packets doused in chemicals? Well, Bengaluru-based Namrata Goenka, a former lawyer, does just that in 10×10 feet space on her terrace. The Better India got in touch with her to help our readers get a few tips on growing mushrooms at home. Born in Kolkata, she moved to Bengaluru at the age of 18 to complete her education.<br>
<br>She pursued bachelors in biotechnology and masters in Biochemistry. After getting married, she studied law from Delhi University and worked as a patent attorney for a while. Once the couple moved back to Bengaluru and their son, Vedant, was born in 2014, Namrata decided to devote her time and energy to raising their son. She begins, “While raising Vedant, I had time to look after my terrace. Even though it is a small space, we grow veggies like lettuce, herbs, radish, greens, tomatoes and beans for daily consumption.” Around this time, she decided to start a business from home. She first thought of making and selling mushroom spawn, a highly technical skill which requires some background in biosciences to extract mycelia for growing it on sterile grains. But a little market research revealed that there were several readymade spawn suppliers. She took up a course from the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) on spawn cultivation. Mushroom cultivation also caught her interest, and she enrolled in a course.<br>
<br>So what is mushroom spawn? To put it simply, mushroom spawn is any substance that has been inoculated (immunised) with mycelium, the vegetative growth on which mushrooms grow. Mycelium, a thread-like collection of cells, is to a mushroom as an apple tree is to an apple. The spawn is used to transfer mycelium on to any material from which mushrooms will grow, called a substrate. Should you have just about any concerns relating to in which as well as the best way to use Supplier of shiitake mushroom extract powder as Raw Material for cosmetics, you can email us with our site. So Namrata decided to take spawn from IIHR and start cultivation in April 2018. She began with shiitake mushrooms which grow in about four months. “It was a constant process of trial-and-error. Remember that mushroom cultivation requires skill, but most importantly, a lot of batches. Thiruvananthapuram’s Vinod Sahadevan Nair, also known as ‘Banana Man’, shut down his web designing firm in Kochi to return home and build a unique farm. Today, he grows over 500 varieties of bananas. She first started on a small scale to enhance her skills and check the market. Having her own home and terrace reduced the costs, and much of the equipment was bought from a mushroom unit that was shutting down.<br>
<br>She informs, “Setting up a unit can be cost-effective based on the budget of the mushroom grower. Besides, how different types of mushrooms are grown also varies. You need different rooms to grow mushrooms. Once you get a ready-made spawn, you need one room to make the substrate, another to sterilise it and run the spawn, while a third for fruiting. Since the spawn is ready, the next step is to create a substrate. As mentioned above, substrate is simply any substance on which mycelium will grow. Many kinds of biomass can be considered a substrate. From paddy straw to coffee grounds, even sawdust, you can choose your variety. Another important step before filling your bag with the substrate is sterilisation. While several farmers turn to chemicals for sterilisation since it takes less time and input, Namrata prefers using a pressure cooker to complete the process without using any chemicals. The next step is the spawn run. This is the process of letting the mycelium grow on the substrate.<br>