Agriculture ministry secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian has said mushrooms are a very beneficial food that keeps the body healthy, and so they must be made popular.

"Mushrooms have been grown for a long time, and there are many challenges," he said. "If we can make them popular by increasing publicity widely, there is great potential."

He was speaking at a seminar on Wednesday, 20 November, at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in Farmgate, Dhaka. The seminar on expanding mushroom farming was organised by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) project for nutrition improvement and poverty reduction through the expansion of mushroom farming. Mushroom growers from different parts of the country took part.

Saying agriculture needs to be made a hub of employment, Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian said that if an employment hub can be created there will be no unemployment. "We want real research. It won't do just to carry out 77 kinds of research that are of no use." He called for a list of the 10 types of rice that give the highest yields in the field, and said the same must be done for other crops. Arrangements must also be made so that every agriculture block officer knows about mushroom farming.

Project director Dr Mst Akhtar Jahan Kakon gave a presentation on the mushroom project.

Sumedh Chakma of Rangamati has been growing mushrooms since 2021. He said about a hundred entrepreneurs grow mushrooms in their area. He produces 5-10 kg a month and can sell it for between Tk 200 and Tk 700 a kg.

The seminar was chaired by DAE director general Md Saiful Alam. Other speakers included agriculture ministry additional secretaries Md Mahbubul Haque Patwary and Zakir Hossain, DAE director Md Shahinul Islam and additional director Abu Md Enayet Ullah.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.