Increasing passion in production of Mushroom in Balkh

Peasant Weekly: Naeem Rezaei
Bibi Hanifa is one of the Mushroom workers in Dehdadi district of Balkh province. She said “It has been 6 months since the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) Second National Priority Program 2 (SNAPP2) constructed a farm for us, it has been very instrumental for us and we have been able to earn a good income this way."
She adds that at the beginning, we sold each kilogram of mushroom in 250 afghanis in local market.
Since, we were the beginners at this job, we did not know much about the local market of this products.  Now we know that there is a good market for mushroom and we sell each kilogram of emeralds for 300 AFN.
Dr. Nafisa, an employee who is promoting (SNAPP2) program in Balkh said,” We are operating in mushroom section in four districts of Balkh adding we have 10 groups, each of which consists of 10 people, for a total of 100 people. Initially, our field staff surveyed four districts to identify those eligible for assistance. We pick up those who are poor so that they can make a living."
According to her, it has been more than six months since they commenced their work. The program has been very helpful in four districts of Balkh and has grown the economy of the users. During this period, women's interest in cultivating mushroom has also been upgraded.
She added: "The women for whom we have created the mentioned farms, in addition to selling their products at a good price in the market, also use them at home. There are three groups in Dehdadi district, two groups in Khulm district, two groups in Nahrshahi district and three other groups in Balkh district, bringing the total to 100 people, these all groups are covered by SNAPP2 program.
"We have distributed a total of 27 items to mushroom users in the district," said Bibi Shirin,   Second National Priority Program 2 in-charge (SNAPP2) in the Dehdadi district of Balkh province. We have divided them into three groups of 10 people and taught them how to cultivate, maintain and harvest this product, they have cooperated in marketing sections."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock's  (SNAPP2) to support impoverished women in Balkh province has taught the method of cultivating emeralds in a new and low-consumption way so that they can generate income and grow their economy.