Mushroom growers plea to govt

BERHAMPUR (ODISHA): Mushroom growers in Ganjam district of Odisha have urged the government to include mushroom production in the agriculture policy and sought assistance to make up the losses incurred in cyclone Phailin.

Ganjam is the second highest mushroom producing district in Odisha after Puri. Around 400 growers produce about eight tonne paddy stray mushroom daily. The sector provides employment to over 4,000 youths directly and indirectly.

Mushroom growers, however, are deprived of varous government benefits as they are not included in the latest agriculture policy of the state, representatives of Odisha Mushroom Growers Federation (OMGF), Ganjam said.

"Mushroom producers invest Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in every unit. But they do not get bank loans or insurance benefits as they do not come under the ambit of government's agriculture policy," general secretary of the district unit of the federation Abhimanyu Nayak said.

"Mushroom growers in states such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have been getting sufficient incentives from the government. Despite our repeated demands, the government is not paying attention to our needs," Godavarish Panigrahi, an adviser of the district unit, said.

Almost all the mushroom producing units in the district were damaged in Phailin. The district is now depending on states like Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi to meet the daily demand. Paddy-straw, mushroom, which is a delicious food item, is missing from the menu as there was nil production, they claimed.

"We have appealed to the government for assistance to the affected units through different channels," said B Narasinga Rao, one of the leading mushroom producers of the state, and an adviser to the federation.