After earlier, successful field trials, the Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Department will launch commercial farming of Shiitake mushrooms in September. The shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes), native to Japan, is a type of fungus that is said to boost the immune system.

K.K. Sharma, Director of the Department of Agriculture, said: “As the trials and standardisation of all the parameters were successful, the cultivation technique of shiitake mushroom will be transferred to the farmer level in September. This initiative will provide farmers with an opportunity for round-the-year cultivation of mushrooms with enhanced returns.”

The director said the field trials were conducted using Japanese technology at multiple locations on blocks. “The blocks, in which mushroom was grown up in various conditions, were provided by the Mushroom institute Palampur in Himachal Pradesh,” Sharma said. According to the officials, it will be considered as a move to bring an economic boom in the farming sector with regard to mushroom cultivation.

Source: outlookindia.com