Central Institute for Suptropical Horticulture develops technique to use stubble as base for farming

LUCKNOW : Lucknow-based Central Institute for Suptropical Horticulture (CISH) has developed a technique to grow vegetables on a base made of stubble, a farm waste that had become the reason for depleting air quality in north India during winters.

The research work on alternate use of stubble is being done after a push from the Indian Council of Agricultural Reaserch (ICAR), the umbrella body that heads research in the field of agriculture in India.

Stubble, specially of paddy crop is burnt by farmers as it is expensive to remove it manually. The burning of stubble leads to severe air pollution inviting fines and even police cases from the government.

“We have developed a way to ensure optimal use of stubble for mushroom farming. The technique has already been adopted by leading mushroom growers in Uttar Pradesh. Our experts are trying to incorporate the use of stubble in growing vegetables in rooftop gardens, kitchen garden and other such spaces,” said CISH director Shailendra Rajan.

Experts at CISH have so far trained 100 farmers about the technique of using stubble as a base to for mushroom farming since December last year.

“Mushroom require a porus nutrient rich base to grow. Traditionally hay was used for the purpose but we have found that stubble gives better output if used properly as a medium. It also improves profitability as stubble is cheaper than hay,” Rajan said.

“Our focus is to train young farmers about the techniques specially those who are in paddy farming so that they could use the stubble from their own fields as a base for mushroom crop,” he said.

CISH is also developing a do-it-yourself kit for farming enthusiasts living in the city. The kit can be purchased and used to harvest mushrooms at home, said the director.