Bukedi farmers reap big from growing mushrooms

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The project of growing mushrooms is being implemented by the Great Lakes Institute for Development and funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. PHOTO | FILE

More than 300 farmers in Bukedi Sub-region have embraced mushroom growing, saying it is helping them to sustain their families.

Under the Bukedi Mushroom Project that is being implemented in the districts of Tororo, Budaka, Butebo, Butaleja and Kibuku, the farmers say the business is helping them fight household poverty that is rampant in the area.

According to the2019/20 Uganda National Household Survey, the number of people living in poverty in Bukedi stands at 10.4 percent.

Mr Brian Mpiima, 31, a resident of Kiralaka Village, Kamonkoli Town Council in Budaka District, says he has no regrets for engaging in the business.

“I am earning  extra cash from growing mushrooms; I harvest 4kgs per cycle unlike before when I was only into subsistence farming,” he says.

A kilogramme of fresh mushrooms fetches between Shs5,000 and Shs8,000. Mr Mpiima says mushrooms already have market, especially in hotels, big restaurants and for export.

Ms Betty Nankoma, another mushroom grower, says a year ago, she was relying on her husband for everything but that is no longer the case.

“After receiving training on how to grow and process the edible fungus, all that changed and I am now self-reliant,” she says.

Ms Nankoma says mushroom farming is neither labour intensive nor does it require huge chunks of land.

“Any farmer interested in mushroom growing has to be ready for a practical session so that they don’t suffer losses because mushrooms are very sensitive,” she says.

The project of growing mushrooms is being implemented by the Great Lakes Institute for Development and funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Ms Anna Namubiru, an instructor, says they have trained farmers in basic skills of growing mushrooms on a commercial basis.

“We have trained and also set up demonstration gardens. This is part of the government effort to eliminate poverty,” she says.

The project coordinator, Mr Bernard Byaba, explains that mushrooms can be grown in polythene bags with cotton husks where the mushroom spores [seeds] are introduced.

“The polythene bags need to be placed in a dark, hygienic room free from insects, vectors, smells and loud sounds that may affect production,” he says. Mr Byaba says the three –stage process of growing mushrooms entails soaking the cotton husks in water for 12 hours, steaming the soil under high temperature for eight to nine hours and allowing it to cool for 24 hours.

“When the soil is cool, introduce the mushroom spores to the polythene bags, have them tied up, and left in a dark room for two weeks for husks to burst open and let out the mushrooms,” he says.

After two weeks, Mr Byaba says the farmer can transfer the bags to an aerated room, open them up and start watering three times daily for three days.

 He says harvesting of mushrooms then starts on the third or fourth day. “This can go on for three to four months depending on the quality of the mushroom spores and the care extended to the mushrooms,” he says.

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Monica Musenero, while touring the mushroom gardens at the weekend,  applauded the communities that have embraced the growing of mushrooms as an alternative to increase their household incomes.