INDIA Northwards of Delhi
India has over a billion inhabitants, of whom around 350 million are vegetarians: an immense market for mushrooms. But what about production? In the slipstream of the ICMBMP8 in Delhi we decided to investigate.
By Magda Verfaillie, Mycelia T
he climate in the foothills of the Himalaya is ideal for mushroom growing. It was here, in Himachal Pradesh, that the first professional mushroom growing enterprise in India was founded in the 1970s. It is also home to the Mushroom Research Centre of India. At lower altitudes and towards the interior, what you mainly find are seasonal growers, who benefit from the cool winter period to cultivate mush- rooms extensively in temporary sheds. The result is an explosive increase in mushroom supplies between November and April, with the knock-on effect of a sharp price fall. Our guide in the region was Vikas Benal, a self- made and highly respected mushroom grower. His farm is situated close to the research centre in Solan.
Vikas Mushroom Farm
In 1990, Vikas was given one hundred US dollars by his father to invest in a company, adjacent to and below the family home. Production grew to reach the point that it could no longer keep pace with sales, so Vikas had to contract out part of production. This led to a network of small, satellite growers, who Vikas supplies with compost, while he arranges the marketing of the product. This gives him control of the entire supply chain, and ensures consistent quality of the end product. In return, the growers get a fair price and don’t have to concern themselves with sales. Vikas’ own spawn production is idle at the moment, due to construction in progress on a brand-new spawn lab.
Each week, Vikas produces 100 tons of compost in 10 kg bags. This takes place in an incredible spot on a steep slope, which can only be accessed via a winding path. The huge, compost shovel- ling bulldozer must have been whisked there by magic! Simply getting the raw materials up there is a logistic challenge of gargantuan proportions, but the good prices for mushrooms compensate
28 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
for the extra expense. “Here in the cool moun- tain climate we grow all year round, lower down that is only possible during winter. In winter, we can’t compete with the lowland mushrooms, so we take production to a low level. But in summer we are one of the few vendors on the market, and the price we realise then makes all the difference to our annual figures.” Vikas prepares his compost using the tradi- tional blend of rice and wheat straw, chicken
Vikas’ Mushroom Farm: compost production on a narrow ridge between the mountain peaks.
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