PALPA: Mushroom farmers in some

VDCs of Palpa district are hit

hard due to lack of market for their produce.

Mushroom farming is popular in Kaseni, Rupse, Bhairabsthan, Kailashnagar, Misan, Chitungdhara and other areas of the district. Ganesh Thapa of Kajipauwa of Tansen-11 said he started commercial mushroom farming a decade ago.

Some 15 metric tonnes of mushrooms are produced in the district annually. Thapa alone contributes 10 metric tonnes of mushrooms. He complained of lack of proper market for his produce though mushrooms produced by small farmers get market in the local areas as well.

Meanwhile, consumption of mushrooms has lessened greatly in Tansen bazaar compared to the previous years. Thapa said only 50kg mushroom is consumed each day in Tansen while till last year the consumption was over 130kg daily. Syangja, Waling and Butwal are the main markets for Palpa-grown mushrooms.