It’s mushrooming

|
  • 0

It’s mushrooming

Sunday, 16 June 2019 | MUSBA HASHMI

It’s mushrooming

MUSBA HASHMI catches up with 28-year-old Hotel Management graduate, PRANAV BAHL who left his job and took over his father’s business to grow an exotic variety of mushroom in an indoor vertical farm

Out of the box is the new norms today. From pearl farming to mushroom farming, the agriculture industry is now attracting the youth like never before. There are many reasons why Gen Z is getting hands dirty. The most important — it gives room to different cost-effective farming ideas.

Pranav Bahl, a 28-year-old  Delhi-based, Hotel Management graduate, who left his job to take forward his father’s legacy of mushroom farming says that he was always interested in exploring different varieties of mushroom.

“In 2014, I decided to leave my hotel industry job and explore variety of mushrooms and how to grow them. My father, Arun Bahl, came up with this idea in 1987 and his first project was to grow button mushrooms. He named it Swadeshi Mushroom Spawn. Swadeshi because he had read an autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi — My Experiments With Truth. He was influenced by the Swadeshi Movement that happened in the early 90s. Spawn means mushroom seeds. We also harvest spawns and sell them. Hence the name,” he explains.

 

Though Bahl didn’t face many challenges to set up his business, back in 1987, it did not come easy to his father. “Back then, not many knew about mushrooms. Coming up with the idea of mushroom farming was challenging for him. With every business venture there are some risks,” he tells you.

But young Bahl who has tasted different mushrooms from around the world felt  there was something missing in them. That is when he came up with the idea of organic farming and decided to take his father’s business ahead by growing King Oyster (a variety which is high in protein and other nutrients).

The process consists of several steps. A piece of wood is taken and wrapped into a polythene bag. A fungi — mycellium (Pleurotus eryngii) is then put into the wood and left for 20 to 25 days under cold temperature, certain amount of pressure and humidity. The fungi then starts spreading and later develops into a bulb like structure. After five to 10 days these bulb like structures develop into a fully grown mushroom.

He tells you that King Oyster is an exotic variety and cost ranges between Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 per kg. The texture and shape of this variety differs from the common button mushroom. The upper half of it is slightly brown in colour while its stem or the lower half is usual white.

When Bahl started his venture, he was only supplying to big hotels but his aim is to enter the niche market now. “Our aim is to sweep into this market and reach the consumers directly. Though, these mushrooms are a bit expensive, but once people will try it there is no reason they will not like it. This mushroom is an alternative for non-vegetarians who are now vegetarians,” he tells you.

Bahl wants to challenge the ageold perception that farming  can only be done in large fields. “I want to let people know that if you want to do something unique, there can be many reasons which will restrain you from doing it but there is an adage: Where there is a will, there is a way. I have started this project in a small room. The best part of this type of farming is that it can be done in vertical space. This way more space can be utilised. I do it on vertical shelves. Each column is divided into five shelves and each shelf can occupy up to 20 to 22 pieces of wood (in which the mushroom grow),” he tells you.

Everyone who want to try their hands at mushroom farming must be willing to go a step ahead. “It requires a lot of patience and hardwork. It is not rocket science but it requires knowledge and expertise. Once you have this, you are good to go,” he says.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda