2025-10-16

“The training was very beneficial. Thanks to the organisers,” said Sreelatha, one of the participants.

Mushrooms are not only tasty and full of flavour—they are also highly nutritious. They contain many health-boosting compounds like dietary fibre, antioxidants, minerals, and healthy fats.

TIES recently organised a focused training session on mushroom cultivation, which brought together 17 eager participants. A key highlight of the programme was the introduction of a new, eco-friendly technique using pellets for mushroom bed preparation. This method is a smart and sustainable alternative to the traditional straw beds.

The training included two main parts: a theory session and a hands-on workshop. In the theory session, participants learned about different topics such as types of mushrooms, tissue culture, mother spawn and spawn production, bed preparation, and post-harvest handling.

What made this training stand out was the focus on pellet-based mushroom beds. Compared to straw, pellets are cleaner, easier to handle, and require less effort for preparation. Participants appreciated this approach, noting that it reduces contamination risk and saves time and labour.

The sessions were led by experienced trainers including Dr. Punnen Kurian, Director of TIES; Prof. Sunny Jose, retired HoD at St. Xavier’s College, Vaikom; and Ms. Arya Shaji, Project Assistant at TIES. During the practical session, each participant prepared their own pellet-based mushroom bed, applying what they had learned in theory.

This programme is part of TIES’ efforts to promote sustainable and farmer-friendly practices. The event was smoothly coordinated by Sarath Babu N B, Aparna Raj T, and Megha M M from the TIES team.