Move to include mushrooms on school menu

BENGALURU: If the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) had its way, mushrooms would be on the menu of mid-day meals served to schoolchildren across the country. Makes sense, they are not non-vegetarian—mushrooms are fungi, which are plants— and they are a rich source of protein. But then IIHR’s intention behind lobbying for mushrooms on the menu is not just children’s nutrition but farmers’ well-being too.

The institute has submitted a detailed proposal to the government, which includes the recipe for a mushroom-fortified rasam power that is easy to cook without any harmful preservatives.

IIHR’s motive behind the proposal is to make mushrooms more palatable to the Indian palate, thereby boosting demand and thus farmers’ incomes. The institute’s director, Dr M.R. Dinesh says misapprehensions about mushrooms have hindered their production in India, which is abysmally low compared to China.

The institute is home to 267 varieties of mushrooms. Anyone interested in mushroom farming can contact the institute for seeds or to be trained. IIHR has developed mushroom growing kits that work in a variety of scenarios, be it backyards, terrace gardening, smallholdings, etc.

In particular, IIHR is targeting women self-help groups, professionals interested in terrace gardening, and farmers in tribal areas such as B.R. Hills where mushroom farming can be taken up easily.

Increasing farmers’ income is a primary objective of the national horticulture fair the institute is hosting from February 5 to 8 to showcase popular crop varieties, cropping practices and innovative technologies.

Dr Dinesh said the main theme of the four-day event is ‘Horticulture: Making Farming an Enterprise.’

"The main highlight of the event will be to highlight production and protection in fruits, vegetables, flowers, medicinal and aromatic crops, mushrooms, plantation crops and spices," he said.