Mushroom cultivation in Hetauda

The mushroom farming is rapidly expanding in Nepal. Many farmers are engaged in the cultivation of Nepal due to its economic advantages and nutritional benefits. Prakash Paudel is from Hetauda, sub-metropolitan ward no. 6, Pandrabigha. He has been farming mushrooms there for the past three years. He started this business because he was interested in farming and knew that it was lucrative. Mushroom farming has many challenges. He faces problems regarding balls, green mold, and black mold. Sometimes he faces problems regarding quality spawn and firewood. He doesn’t get logs easily all the time. In the present context, Nepal is leading in good technology, but he isn’t able to use technology where he doesn’t have to use firewood. He is pretty satisfied with the mushroom farming, but still has a lot to do. There are many reasons, such as the market and agents. Agents are creating trouble a lot. Because of the price hike in the market, he is having difficulty affording the things he has to buy. Mushrooms are only being taken as vegetables. He lacks products made from mushrooms in the market. He has to sell on the market at a low price. He is not getting what he is supposed to get, but he remains hopeful. He has to sell in the market at a low price as well. He is not getting what he is supposed to get, but he remains hopeful that the government will come up with some rules and regulations. He is not sure about demand and supply here in the market. Even farmers are not going with proper planning and analysis; sometimes there is a huge loss because of this, and both farmers and consumers are having challenges. He would like to remind the people going for foreign employment that the agriculture sector has huge potential nowadays. He needs to recognize the opportunity. He says that mushroom farming is still considered one of the viable options. He didn't have the option to go abroad, but he is managing to make good money. That’s why he would like to request that everyone come into mushroom farming and become independent. Although the government is granting the subsidy to the farmers, it still looks like the real farmers are being deprived of this opportunity. In his opinion, if the government could allocate subsidies to the real farmers, mushroom farming could move forward a little. He would like to request all interested people in mushroom farming not to come into this sector without getting proper training and just listening to the rumors. As it is a very sensitive business, we should come into this field with proper training and enough research; only then can we find success somehow. He also mentions that, in the future, he wants to switch to modern, environmentally friendly huts that can last up to ten years instead of these temporary huts.