By Bart Aerts, Fancom, and Dr. Sangam Kurade, Goa INDIA
India Mushroom Summit in Bengaluru
The India Mushroom Summit (IMS 2025) took place in Bengaluru on November 3rd and 4th. This was the third edition, having launched in Delhi in 2023. The summit focuses primarily on growers in India and consists of a two-day lecture program, a trade fair and - this time - company visits.
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Photos: Bart Aerts, Anurag Saxena, Mark den Ouden, Sangam Kurade.
he first edition was very small-scale, with only two European companies and a modest number of visitors. Every year, the number of companies
and visitors increases. The first two editions were organized in close collaboration with and on-site at the University of Delhi, attracting both professionals and students. This year, Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore), the capital and largest city of Karnataka state, was chosen, because of its location closer to mushroom farms. A very good choice. The summit, held this time under the theme ‘Mush-room for improvement; elevating the industry’, focused on advancing technology adoption, enhancing production efficiency and strengthening value-chain integration within India’s rapidly growing mushroom sector. The driving force behind the event is Anurag Saxena, owner of Milkyway Spawn.
IMS 2025 lectures This year’s summit in Hotel Lalit Ashok began with a traditional ceremony and a few short speeches. Then, the sector took center stage, with a variety of presentations on Agaricus and specialty mushrooms. Dr. Kurade’s Mushrooms, India’s largest mushroom producer, was platinum sponsor of the summit, reaffirming its leadership and commitment to advancing the country’s mushroom ecosystem. Dr. Kurade spoke on the growth of Indian mushroom sector, doubling over the last 5 years to 250,000 tons annually at present. According to Kurade, a similar increase can be expected over the next five years, with the growth of the economy, a rapidly growing, young population, vegetarian eating habits and new market channels opening up. In his lecture on automatic climate control, Bart Aerts of Fancom even mentioned FAO data, amounting to a total production in India of 315.000 tons/ year in 2023 (all kinds of mushrooms), which would mean that the country takes third place in worldwide mushroom production already!
Trade fair and dinner The trade fair began simultaneously with the professional presentations. This edition had less space for exhibitors. There were a limited number of small, but well-maintained stands with a variety of vendors, including local suppliers such as Milkyway, Indian Shroom Company, Maxxdge, Naayom, and international suppliers such as Christiaens, DMP, Fancom, Agro-Projects, Satrise and Ribbstyle. The quality of the visitors - delegates and speakers came from 11 countries around the world - was good, with a mix of emerging and established entrepreneurs and consultants. On the evening of 3rd November, a networking cocktail dinner was hosted, which provided an informal and engaging environment.
During the opening ceremony of IMS 2025 (Anurag Saxenda of Milkyway Spawn second left). 30 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
AIMGA launch and training There was also a launch of the All India Mushroom Growers Association (AIMGA), an initiative welcomed with great enthusiasm, with mushroom growers and companies expressed keen interest in joining the
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