A three-day training programme on “Scientific Cultivation of Schizophyllum Commune (Kanglayen)” was launched in Imphal East Saturday.
The programme is organised by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Agricultural Sciences (PDDUIAS) at its Kameng Khunjao Campus Imphal East.
Associate dean of the school of Horticulture, PDDUIAS, Senjam Jinus told mediapersons that like varieties of mushroom are being produced through cultivation, Schizophyllum Commune, locally known as Kanglayen, can also be cultivated.
He said that people of the state usually like Kanglayen as many local cuisines can be made out of it. Yet because of its high cost, only a few people can afford to consume the mushroom that contains high nutritional and medicinal values regularly.
The Kanglayen found in the market are grown naturally wild in the forest but the effort and challenges invested to reach the market has pushed the price up, Senjam Jinus said.
However, once Kanglayen is produced in a large scale through cultivation, it can be made available at an affordable rate, he added.
He further said that in Manipur, a few people started Kanglayen cultivation successfully.
As Kanglayen contains high nutritional, medicinal values, its cultivation can be a good source of income for the state. With this view, workshop cum hands on training programme is being held, said Senjam Jinus.
The institution is planning to take up various activities for promotion of Kanglayen cultivation in the state.
One of the resource persons of the training programme, Namrata Nongmeikapam, who is also the founder of Phoonga Mushroom, Singjamei, said that sawdust of some particular type of trees or straw is used as raw material for Kanglayen cultivation.
As the number of Kanglayen growers is less, there is no problem for shortage of sawdust, she said.
However, research is being conducted to find out an alternative source of sawdust as a long-term vision as deforestation is against the law, she added.
Kanglayen is an exotic mushroom of the state having medicinal properties of anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, anti-viral.
In other South East Asian countries, cultivation has started on a massive scale. However, this type of mushroom is usually used as a food item in Northeast India, but hardly known in other parts of the country. It may be because of the reason, pharmaceutical companies don’t use extracts of Kanglayen in making medicine or cosmetic items. As such there is a need to expose the significance of Kanglayen by conducting more research on it.
Head of Department, Home Science, Ideal Girl’s College, Akampat, Imphal East, Kshetrimayum Bimolata Devi also attended as resource person of the function. She spoke on nutritional values of Kanglayen.
