MSc

The study entitled "Empowerment of mushroom growers through technology transfer of value added products" was conducted at the Department of Home Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, during 2012-14. The study was aimed at the standardization of processed mushroom products and to empower mushroom growers through technology transfer. Impact of the technology transfer on the profitable utilization of mushroom was also assessed.
Commercially cultivated varieties of mushroom such as Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus florida) and Milky mushrooms (Calocybe indica) were purposively selected and collected from the Instructional farm, College of Agriculture, Vellayani and also from the local mushroom growers in Thiruvananthapuram for the purpose of study.
Five processed products namely, dehydrated mushroom, mushroom soup powder, mushroom chutney powder, mushroom pickle and mushroom wafers were selected and standardised and their acceptability and shelf life for a period of four months were also ascertained.
During the period of four months of observation it was found that there were no significant changes in moisture, peroxide, pH, acidity and microbial count. The cost of production of various products was also affordable indicating better economic viability.
The technology transfer of these standardized products was conducted among twenty five mushroom growers selected from those who were trained at College of Agriculture, Vellayani. Data regarding the socio-economic status, knowledge and attitude of respondents towards value addition of mushrooms were also obtained using interview schedule. The respondents were provided training on mushroom value addition for three days in the Department of Home science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. The impact of training programme was evaluated after a lapse of two months.
All the respondents were of the opinion that mushroom cultivation is profitable and forty percent of the respondents obtained an income of rupees four thousand per month from mushroom cultivation. Majority of the respondents (56%) were facing the problem of spoilage of about 1000-2000g of mushroom per harvest. Study of the knowledge gain of the trainees and their attitude after two months of training programme revealed that their knowledge improved significantly and their attitude towards processing mushroom too showed significant change. After the training programme, majority of the respondents (88%) started making mushroom pickle followed by 72% making chutney powder and 60% dehydrated mushrooms for sale. Seventy two percent of trainees were started selling mushroom chutney powder. As the time gap was limited between the intervention and the impact evaluation it was seen that majority of the trainees repressed into household level of processing and marketing with satisfactory profit.
Hence it could be concluded that the study has been successful in empowering mushroom growers through technology transfer of value added products of mushroom by making them aware of various processing methods and different mushroom products. The study was also useful for enhancing their attitude towards value addition of mushroom and ensuring a steady income through sale of mushroom products by avoiding wastage of their produce.
Establishment of a sound marketing linkage with organisation like kudumbasree will help to enhance production and marketing of mushroom products by growers.