In an attempt to enhance agricultural production and create additional marketing avenues for cultivators, the Rubber Board Tripura regional office, located in the Indian state Tripura, has decided to uplift the mushroom practice among women growers residing in remote regions of the northeastern state.
Considered as the next high-value agricultural crop, mushrooms can transform the incomes of small and marginal farmers. In the case of Tripura, therefore, the cultivation of this agricultural crop might ensure better livelihood generation for the rubber growers.
Recently, through a joint initiative undertaken by the Rubber Board & Tripura’s Horticulture Department, over 30 to 40 rubber growers hailing from different areas of the state, mostly tribal women were brought to Horticulture Research Center, Nagicherra where they were imparted practical training on ‘Mushroom spawn culture’.
Speaking on this issue, the head of Rubber Board regional office Agartala, Shailaja asserted that a major thread adjoins rubber & mushroom. It is the rubberwood subtracts aggressively utilized during mushroom cultivation. “In Tripura, there are above 80,000 rubber cultivators if both mature and immature plantations are summed up. And, in those rubber farmers, a sizable contribution is made by the women,” said Shaijala.
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