Assessment of Compost and Oyster Mushroom Production from Cotton Stalks as an Additional Income to Cotton Farmers in Wardha District of Maharashtra, India

A study was conducted in Wardha district of Maharashtra during the period 2016-18 to assess the impact of ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT) technology of compost and oyster mushroom cultivation using cotton stalks on bringing additional income to farmers. The villages selected for the study were Godavari, Tekoda, Palasgaon, Digras, Amgaon, Kadki and Pavnoor. The awareness was created among 145 cotton growers about these technologies in 2016, while 56 farmers were selected and given training in 2017 at the Ginning Training Centre (GTC), ICAR-CIRCOT, Nagpur. Data was collected from 50 respondents by the personal interview method to assess the impact of compost and oyster mushroom cultivation among the farmers. The results showed that the farmers were well aware of the advantages of compost and oyster mushroom cultivation for additional income generation. The farmers preferred to use compost in their own field than selling it owing to the enhancement of soil health and savings in the cost of cultivation. Mushroom cultivation was preferred by the farmers for its income generation. Farmers earn Rs. 1000-3000/- and Rs. 4000-6000/- per acre by utilizing the cotton stalks generated per acre for the production of compost and cultivation of oyster mushroom, respectively. The major constraints faced by the farmers were the unavailability of chipper machine, decomposer culture for composting and spawn for mushroom cultivation from private/other institutions other than government agencies. The other major constraints are the poor marketing channel and the lower participation of women in mushroom cultivation.