Sanjit Kumar Mohanty is a mushrooms expert, owner of RASHMIREKHA MUSHROOM, who grows mushrooms, adds value to them and also provides valuable training to whoever needs it. He is from Odisha and recently released his video on FTB. The brand RASHMIREKHA MUSHROOM was established in 2005.
Growing mushrooms is becoming a lucrative business due to high demand for mushrooms. There are different varieties of mushrooms available in the Indian markets. The most popular and commonly available variety is button mushrooms. Though the variety that Sanjit grows is Oyster mushrooms. The markets are slowly beginning to accept these other varieties of mushrooms.
Grows good quality mushrooms
He grows his oyster mushrooms with the help of paddy straws. He grows his own paddy straw for best results. Mushrooms grown in paddy straw have different flavour and excellent taste. Paddy straw grown mushrooms have low production cost and crops can be harvested after duration of 40-45 days. Paddy straw technique is used indoor with paddy which is heavily soaked for hours. This is an indoor technique and there is no risk of rain, storms or temperature fluctuations. Mushrooms grown this way have high potassium and phosphorus content. Mushrooms should be stored well for high shelf life, usually in well sealed plastic bags. These mushrooms are chemical free and grown with fresh water. To grow Oyster Mushrooms, the mushroom spawns are placed between, well placed paddy straws and in a few weeks out come the big and beautiful mushrooms. Farming with fresh paddy straw, fresh oxygen results in best mushrooms.
Produces processed food manufactured from mushrooms
Mushrooms are a complete food with nutrients like Protein and Vitamin D. Mushrooms are low in calories and sugar. These mushrooms are processed to form products like Mushroom Chowmein and Mushroom sauce, Mushroom soup powder, Mushroom papads and Mushroom pickle. Mushrooms reduce the risk of getting diseases like cancer and diabetes. More processed mushroom food is produced by RASHMIREKHA MUSHROOM - Oyster mushroom powder, mushroom nuggets, mushroom squash and mushroom chutney.
Provides spawns to other mushrooms farmers to grow mushrooms
Another activity Sanjit is involved at his farms is producing mushroom spawns, which can be used by mushroom growers to grow their own mushrooms in their farms. He packages his spawns into glass bottles which are sold in Odisha and Kolkata and are bought by enthusiasts and experts.
Provides training on how to grow mushrooms
Sanjit invites anyone and everyone interested in mushrooms, to his mushroom farm. He provides training also to interested students, who are taught how to collect, cut and drench paddy straws. How to place spawns between the wet paddy straws. How to collect the fully grown mushrooms and how to store them. Students are also taught how to manufacture spawns, a topic once learnt by a number of farmers will allow entire farming communities across India to grow mushrooms in bulk. All this education is extremely practical and hands on. Students are given demonstrations on how to process these fully grown mushrooms into value added products like sauces, powders, chutneys.
Sanjit also promotes and sells his RASHMIREKHA MUSHROOM mushrooms and mushroom products at a number of Kisan melas and events. Sanjit sells his products mostly in Odisha and Kolkata. Sanjit's work with RASHMIREKHA MUSHROOM has been recognized and awarded a number of times, for instance Sanjit received Krishi Samrat Samman, Region award - East at Mahindra Samriddhi Agri Awards in 2017.