Shillong, Mar 24: The Mushroom Development Centre at Upper Shillong will be operational by December 2022 in order to boost the mushroom cultivation in the state, especially the Shiitake mushroom cultivation.
This was informed by Agriculture Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh, after a meeting with a delegation of Japan here on Thursday.
The delegation included the First Secretary of Japan Embassy, Watanabe and the CEO of YATS corporation, Y. Ito.
The State Government had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan’s YATS corporation Co.ltd in 2019.
Shiitake in Japanese (Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed in many Asian countries. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine.
The machines for production of this mushroom will be brought directly from Japan. At the same time, Lyngdoh informed that local farmers have been trained in Japan for the cultivation of Shiitake mushroom.
These farmers are expected to train the local farmers with the hope that it will boost the production of Shiitake cultivation, which is in high demand.
The State will produce about 150 metric tons annually and about 400 metric tons in just three years and the amount spent will be around Rs. 4.5 crores.
The Shiitake mushroom grows in temperature between 10 degree Celsius and 28 degree Celsius and Meghalaya is an ideal place for large scale cultivation with its favourite climate conditions. The ideal tree to grow them on are Chestnuts tree and Willow tree.
While the ordinary Button and Oyster mushrooms fetch less price, the value of one kg of 12 Shiitake mushroom pieces is Rs 2,500.
