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Producer and supplier of milky mushroom
“Better income and unemployment. Mushroom is a healthy food and there is a lot of demand,” Ms. Sri Lakshmi recalls why she started mushroom cultivation about 5 years back at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. She chose milky mushroom as “Rajahmundry’s climate and humidity is suitable for the growth of this variety”. The mushrooms are certified under Kakinada, AP.
“My farm has 5 rooms for incubation period with 5000 bed capacity. I have 10rooms for harvesting. I harvest 60-80kgs mushrooms per day on average in my unit,” she shares. “Yes, I do cultivate seeds and sell it in the local market at Rs. 90/kg.” Spawns have to be pre-ordered about 15-20 days in advance and the customers have to bear the transportation costs. She bought spawns initially from IIHR Bangalore at Rs. 51-56/kg.
“Max temp in incubation and harvesting room should be 28-36degrees, humidity above 75-80,” Ms Lakshmi explains. “As Rajahmundry is coastal area, the temperature and humidity are maintained so no need to regulate it manually.”
For mushroom be she uses paddy straw sterilized by methods like chemical or boiling. “I use boiling method to sterilize the paddy straw then spawn is added and incubated for 21days,” she explains the process. After 21days of incubation, “I cut half of the full grown mushrooms and apply casing material on the paddy straw bed.” Next the casing is watered as the casing material needs watering everyday once/twice in a day or alternate days depending on the climatic conditions.’ This is to keep it moist. After 10 days, the casings are processed using soil or coco peat with steam to harvest mushrooms. The mushrooms are grown without contaminations with black mould, green mould, trichoderma etc. Paddy straw is purchased from neighboring areas at Rs. 4000-5000/acre
The mushrooms have a shelf life of about 7-8 days. Packaging is done in packets of 200g, 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 3kg etc. The mushrooms are sold in local market, Rajahmundry and nearby places like Nellore, Kottayam and Hyderabad. Mushrooms are sold at Rs. 150-200/kg which includes transportation cost. Minimum order quantity is 100-200kgs. “Customers have to book the order before 2-3 days for mushroom,” she points out.
Value added products like pickle, soup powder and cutlets are also made. They are sold under the brand name Lakshmi Mushroom Pickles. “I market pickles and transport mushroom pickle to Bangalore, Kottayam, Hyderabad, Ongole, etc. Price is Rs. 350/kg. I do the packing and labeling at my place. Monthly I prepare 7-800 kgs of pickles,” she shares.
She shares her initial investment and venture, “Rs. 10 lakhs and above but it was all lost because everything was spoiled due to contamination and extreme problems were faced in spawn management and mushroom seelling. I started without any guidance and basic know-how! It continued for almost to year. Later on, I took training and started reaping good results.”
“First training I took locally but for the second time I went DMR (Director of Mushroom Research), Himachal Pradesh for 10 days. Followed by specialized training in Bangalore IIHR, Coimbatore University, and MG Ranga University, Telangana for cultivation and spawn preparation,” she narrates.
Post training she re-invested ‘step-by-step’. “The total investment made was Rs. 45 lakhs for whole process from bed preparation to harvesting. I took 3-4 years to earn back the invested amount,” Ms. Lakshmi summarizes.
Speaking of her future plans she shares, “I want to be the best cultivator all over India. I also want to increase sale of my value added products namely pickles, soup powder and cutlet. I want to sell pickles in bulk quantity.”
She has completed post graduate in MA Economics and History.
Contact details:
Lakshmi Mushrooms
Vemagiri Village, KadiyamMandal, Rajamundry,
East Godavari Dist, Andhra Pradesh – 533101
Mob: 09573831544
Email: lakshmimushrooms9@gmail.com
“Better income and unemployment. Mushroom is a healthy food and there is a lot of demand,” Ms. Sri Lakshmi recalls why she started mushroom cultivation about 5 years back at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. She chose milky mushroom as “Rajahmundry’s climate and humidity is suitable for the growth of this variety”. The mushrooms are certified under Kakinada, AP.
“My farm has 5 rooms for incubation period with 5000 bed capacity. I have 10rooms for harvesting. I harvest 60-80kgs mushrooms per day on average in my unit,” she shares. “Yes, I do cultivate seeds and sell it in the local market at Rs. 90/kg.” Spawns have to be pre-ordered about 15-20 days in advance and the customers have to bear the transportation costs. She bought spawns initially from IIHR Bangalore at Rs. 51-56/kg.
“Max temp in incubation and harvesting room should be 28-36degrees, humidity above 75-80,” Ms Lakshmi explains. “As Rajahmundry is coastal area, the temperature and humidity are maintained so no need to regulate it manually.”
For mushroom be she uses paddy straw sterilized by methods like chemical or boiling. “I use boiling method to sterilize the paddy straw then spawn is added and incubated for 21days,” she explains the process. After 21days of incubation, “I cut half of the full grown mushrooms and apply casing material on the paddy straw bed.” Next the casing is watered as the casing material needs watering everyday once/twice in a day or alternate days depending on the climatic conditions.’ This is to keep it moist. After 10 days, the casings are processed using soil or coco peat with steam to harvest mushrooms. The mushrooms are grown without contaminations with black mould, green mould, trichoderma etc. Paddy straw is purchased from neighboring areas at Rs. 4000-5000/acre
The mushrooms have a shelf life of about 7-8 days. Packaging is done in packets of 200g, 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 3kg etc. The mushrooms are sold in local market, Rajahmundry and nearby places like Nellore, Kottayam and Hyderabad. Mushrooms are sold at Rs. 150-200/kg which includes transportation cost. Minimum order quantity is 100-200kgs. “Customers have to book the order before 2-3 days for mushroom,” she points out.
Value added products like pickle, soup powder and cutlets are also made. They are sold under the brand name Lakshmi Mushroom Pickles. “I market pickles and transport mushroom pickle to Bangalore, Kottayam, Hyderabad, Ongole, etc. Price is Rs. 350/kg. I do the packing and labeling at my place. Monthly I prepare 7-800 kgs of pickles,” she shares.
She shares her initial investment and venture, “Rs. 10 lakhs and above but it was all lost because everything was spoiled due to contamination and extreme problems were faced in spawn management and mushroom seelling. I started without any guidance and basic know-how! It continued for almost to year. Later on, I took training and started reaping good results.”
“First training I took locally but for the second time I went DMR (Director of Mushroom Research), Himachal Pradesh for 10 days. Followed by specialized training in Bangalore IIHR, Coimbatore University, and MG Ranga University, Telangana for cultivation and spawn preparation,” she narrates.
Post training she re-invested ‘step-by-step’. “The total investment made was Rs. 45 lakhs for whole process from bed preparation to harvesting. I took 3-4 years to earn back the invested amount,” Ms. Lakshmi summarizes.
Speaking of her future plans she shares, “I want to be the best cultivator all over India. I also want to increase sale of my value added products namely pickles, soup powder and cutlet. I want to sell pickles in bulk quantity.”
She has completed post graduate in MA Economics and History.
Contact details:
Lakshmi Mushrooms
Vemagiri Village, KadiyamMandal, Rajamundry,
East Godavari Dist, Andhra Pradesh – 533101
Mob: 09573831544
Email: lakshmimushrooms9@gmail.com
