Mushroom farming has gradually been expanding in the country, as output reached 40,000 tonnes, worth Tk 8.0 billion, in 2020, according to official figures.
Following the rising consumption and output of the fungi species, Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Sunday at a programme said the government had taken several measures to take advantage of the potential of mushrooms - both for the domestic and external markets.
Farming of the delicious food will be expanded across the country, said the minister at a views exchange meeting with mushroom growers and entrepreneurs at the Bangladesh Mushroom Development Institute (MDI) at Savar in Dhaka, organised by MDI.
The minister said local growers were producing world class mushrooms, which should be marketed properly to encourage them and others.
He said improved varieties and cultivation techniques of mushrooms had already been invented - these should reach the entrepreneurs.
Following depleting farmland, the government has also been focusing on crops which require lower pieces of land, the minister said.
Mushroom is such a suitable crop for Bangladesh due to the decreasing farming area, he said.
MDI Deputy Director Ferdous Ahmed said mushroom production was growing rapidly in the country as output reached 40,000 tonnes, worth Tk 8.0 billion, in 2020.
He said production was less than 10,000 tonnes one and a half decades back.
He said 0.15 million people were now involved in mushroom farming in the country, thanks to rising consumption of the item - both in the fast-food joints and restaurants, and households.
Apart from the domestic market, mushroom has a vast global market where Bangladesh can export a good quantity, he said.
According to MDI, it has so far brought 162 varieties of edible mushrooms from different parts of the globe and has developed technologies suitable for cultivating those in the country.
It has also collected 140 varieties of local mushrooms from the hills and forests of the country to select viable varieties.
Modern labs have also been set up at the MDI for quality control and quality assurance.
Labs are also analysing the nutritional and medicinal properties of vitamins, mineralsof mushrooms.
Speaking on the occasion, local mushroom growers and traders at the programme hailed the proposed budget for the next fiscal year (FY'22),as it imposed 20 per cent import duty on mushroom which was earlier 5.0 per cent.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Enamur Rahman, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Md Asadullah, agriculture ministry Additional Secretary (extension) Md Hasanuzzaman Kallol, and Savar upazila Chairman Manjurul Alam Rajib and municipal Mayor Abdul Gani, among others, also spoke.
