Mushroom cultivation
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It is an income generation scheme with very little capital investment and minimum time consuming and an entertaining hobby. Old straw of paddy/rice is collected and cut into small pieces of one to two inches long. The straw is socked and kept in the water for the night. Flowing water is ideal for this and hence people bundle them in old sacks and put it in the running stream which we find all over Nepal.
In the morning it is taken out and steamed. After that it is taken out and packed inside plastic a bag up to 3 to 4 inches thick. A small layer of seeds of Mushrooms (it is a chemically treated substance on the basis of wheat or paddy easily available in Nepal agricultural department) is spread on top. Again straw is packed to another 3 inches and this can go on up to 4 times in a packet. Few holes are made around the packet. The packet is then placed or hung in a semi dark place or a room.
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After 15 to 20 days one can notice already the sprouting taking place. Within another 10 to 15 days the mushrooms are ready for the first harvesting. A packet will yield at least 2 to 3 kilograms which at the market will yield 1.5 Euro per kilogram. A second harvesting can be done after 15 days with a yield of 1 to 2 kilogram and a third can be after another 15 days with a yield of around 1.5 kilogram. At the end of the season the straw inside can be used as organic manure.
In a small room of 100 square feet you can place a minimum of 100 such packets if hung properly.
This cultivation is done especially during the winter time as the weather is favourable. The people are quite free those days. The expense to prepare a packet will be approximately 0.25 euro and the yield per packet will be approximately 4 to 5 Euros.
During the last winter from November to Feb 13, 45 families were involved in this activity and they made a total of 600 packets.