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Mushrooms have aroused man's interest since the dawn of civilization. They are
considered as one of the most important high quality protein rich vegetable crops.
Mushroom entrepreneurship if promoted, will offer plenty of advantages and have the
capacity to assist rural society in establishing more long term economic growth. Kerala
has an immense potential for mushroom production due its low cost, easy availability
of raw materials, and round-the-year production capability. Even though a field with
great scope for exploration, the studies with extension aspects are very limited and in
this backdrop the present study was conducted to know about the current scenario of
mushroom cultivation.
The current study entitled “Scenario analysis of mushroom microenterprises” was
conducted in Kerala Agricultural University. Data collection was carried out among 120
mushroom entrepreneurs. Sixty mushroom entrepreneurs each from Thrissur and
Palakkad districts, mainly engaged in production (spawn / mushroom) and marketing;
production, processing and marketing were randomly selected. The independent and
dependent variables were selected for the study on the basis of judges rating. An
interview schedule was prepared to collect data from mushroom entrepreneurs. Then
the collected data were arranged, scored and analyzed using suitable statistical tools.
The results revealed that among the 120 mushroom units, majority (56.66%) units
were production and marketing type and 43.33 per cent of mushroom units were
production, processing and marketing type. The analysis of mushroom unit structure
showed that, majority (40.83%) of mushroom entrepreneurs had production unit size
above 500 sq.feet; 54.16 per cent had kutcha type of mushroom shed; family or group
labour was the source of labour for 75.83 per cent of mushroom entrepreneurs and
majority of them had equipments in the range of 2 to 4 in numbers.
A large proportion (43.33%) of mushroom entrepreneurs belongs to the age
category 31-40 years and around 40.83 per cent of them were graduates. Agriculture
along with mushroom cultivation was the family occupation of majority (37.5%) of the
mushroom entrepreneurs. Nearly 41.66 per cent of mushroom entrepreneurs were
received income per season in the range of Rs/- 25,000 – 50,000 and around 51.66 per
cent had obtained yield per season above 150 Kg. Majority (28.33%) per cent of
mushroom entrepreneurs had an experience of two and half to three years and about
30.83 per cent choose direct selling to consumers and local markets as their major
marketing avenue. For transporting the mushroom products 68.33 per cent of mushroom
entrepreneurs were used their own vehicle. Majority of the mushroom entrepreneurs
had medium level of economic motivation (80%), risk orientation (54.16%) and
extension contact (71.66%). In case of mobility, the frequency of visit for most of the
mushroom entrepreneurs were to nearby panchayath and town for various purposes.
Institutional supports like training and SHM subsidy were availed by majority (48.33%)
of the mushroom entrepreneurs. The various institutions providing support includes
Kerala Agricultural University, Extension Centres, Research Organizations, State
Horticulture Mission and Kudumbasree District Mission. The analyses of producer
characteristics were carried out using two way contingency table and chi-square test,
and inferred that there exist a positive significant relationship between the type of
mushroom shed and yield; marketing avenue and income; marketing avenue and family
occupation.
Other salient findings from the study revealed that majority (61.66%) of mushroom
entrepreneurs were females and nearly 85.83 per cent were sole entrepreneurs. Around
81.66 per cent of mushroom entrepreneurs had their own source of investment for
mushroom cultivation. Oyster mushroom was the major type cultivated by 68.33 per
cent of mushroom entrepreneurs, 35 per cent of them were collecting mushroom spawns
from various government sources and nearly 79.16 per cent didn’t face any problem
regarding the quality of yield and spawn. Around 84 per cent of mushroom
entrepreneurs had trade mark for their mushroom products. Polythene cover was the
packing material used by 75.83 per cent of mushroom entrepreneurs.
The performance of mushroom units includes four dimensions ie., Social Capital
Indicators (SCI), Good Mushroom Cultivation Practices (GMCP), Efficiency Indicators
(EI) and Incremental Expansion (IE). The overall performance score shows that,
majority (62.5%) of mushroom units performs under medium category. Using
discriminant analysis and binary logistic regression, a comparison was done with
dimensions of performance index and type of units. The result stated that the dimension
Social Capital Indicators (SCI) is the significantly discriminating one for type of units.
The relationship of independent variables with the performance of mushroom units
had been analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient method. The
independent variables like size of production unit, income per season, yield per season,
experience, type of mushroom shed, marketing avenue, risk orientation, extension
contact, mode of transport for sale of goods and institutional support shows a positive
significant relationship and the variables such as source of labour and family occupation
shows a negative significant relationship with the performance of mushroom units. The
major constraints faced by mushroom entrepreneurs were marketing difficulty, price
instability and lack of market information. Finally, strategic options such as promotion
of direct marketing method, extension interventions, creating public awareness,
providing trainings, etc. were suggested for the improvement of mushroom enterprises.
A futuristic scenario analysis was also conducted to predict the futuristic possibilities
of mushroom enterprises in Kerala.