Regional Centre for Training and Production of Mushroom

What is the Regional Centre for Training and Production of Mushroom?

Regional Centre for Training and Production of Mushroom is a scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of Meghalaya, run by the Directorate of Horticulture. The centre behind it was established in February 1982 at the Agricultural Complex, Upper Shillong, sponsored by the North Eastern Council as a regional facility for the North Eastern Region.

According to the Directorate, the centre's aims are the production and supply of quality spawn, training facilities for anyone interested in mushroom cultivation, preparation of sterilised compost, and dehydration and marketing facilities. The 2025 departmental FAQ restates the objective in three parts: imparting training to farmers about mushroom cultivation and production; producing and selling quality spawn to growers at a 50 per cent subsidised rate; and producing compost and selling pasteurised compost to button mushroom growers, also at 50 per cent subsidy.

Government Mushroom Development Centres now operate at Upper Shillong, Jowai and Tura, and applications can go directly to them.

The scheme exists because mushroom suits Meghalaya's smallholders. The department records that homestead mushroom cultivation is becoming very popular because of high yield and the remunerative price it fetches, that trained growers are now identified across the state, and that training sessions are held regularly in villages in all districts. Current production is modest; about five metric tonnes of fresh mushroom a year, marketed locally, with the season running March to October.

What kinds of mushroom does the scheme cover?

The centre concentrates on two species, chosen for market potential:

• Agaricus species: white button mushroom. The centre prepares pasteurised compost specifically for button growers, since button mushroom is grown on composted substrate.
• Pleurotus species; dhingri or oyster mushroom. The Upper Shillong centre has been concentrating on oyster mushroom in preference to button for reasons the department sets out plainly: oyster mushroom can be dehydrated and button mushroom cannot; dehydration technology for oyster is simple and cheap; and canning technology for button mushroom is sophisticated and expensive, so the retail price ends up much higher than oyster.

For a new grower with limited capital, that comparison is the practical case for starting with oyster mushroom.

What do you get under the scheme?

The 2025 FAQ lists four kinds of assistance and service:

• Training and demonstration in mushroom cultivation and production, run by the centres and in villages.
• Technology support, the extension advice that goes with spawn supply.
• Sale of mushroom spawn, button and oyster, at 50 per cent subsidy.
• Sale of pasteurised compost to button mushroom growers at 50 per cent subsidy.

Two further components appear in earlier departmental material but not in the 2025 FAQ, and should be verified before you rely on them: construction of a compost shed under the Assistant Director of Horticulture, Mushroom Development Centre, Upper Shillong, at 50 per cent assistance; and financial assistance to mushroom growers under the District Horticulture Officer, West Garo Hills — recorded as Rs 22,000 per unit on the departmental scheme page and Rs 30,000 per unit in the horticulture FAQ. The two published figures do not agree, and the component is absent from the current FAQ, so treat it as a question for your District Horticulture Officer rather than a settled entitlement.

Who is eligible for the mushroom scheme?

You can get the benefit if:

• You are a permanent resident of Meghalaya.
• You are a bona fide farmer engaged in agriculture and interested in mushroom growing.
• You own or lease agricultural land of at least 0.2 hectares. This threshold appears both on the departmental scheme page and in the 2025 FAQ.
• You are prepared to attend training. The department describes beneficiaries as "bonafide and progressive farmers", and trained growers are the ones the centres supply routinely.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a resident of Meghalaya.
• You hold less than 0.2 hectares, or hold no agricultural land at all, owned or leased.
• You are a mushroom trader, retailer or processing company buying spawn for resale. Subsidised spawn goes to growers.
• You are looking for a guaranteed cash subsidy to build a unit. The current published entitlement is training plus half-price spawn and compost; the per-unit cash assistance is not listed in the 2025 FAQ.

The scheme publishes no income ceiling, no age limit and no caste restriction.

How to apply for mushroom training and subsidised spawn

Application is offline only, on plain paper, free of charge.

1. Write the application on plain paper. Give your name, father's or husband's name, village, C&RD Block, district, mobile number, the extent of agricultural land you own or lease, and state clearly whether you want a place on a training programme, spawn, pasteurised compost, or all three. Say which mushroom you intend to grow: button or oyster; because that decides whether compost is relevant to you.
2. Attach self-attested copies of your documents, residence proof, land document or lease paper, and a headman's or Nokma's certificate that you are a bona fide farmer of that village.
3. Submit it at any of the accepted offices. The 2025 FAQ allows the nearest Horticulture Development Officer of a C&RD Block, the Horticulture Circle Office, the District Horticulture Office, or directly at a Government Mushroom Development Centre at Upper Shillong, Jowai or Tura. Take a dated acknowledgement.
4. Attend the training when called, then collect spawn. Spawn is a living product with a short shelf life, so the centre will call you when a batch is ready. Pay your 50 per cent share against a receipt and start the crop promptly.

How are beneficiaries selected?

Selection is on a first come, first served basis, applied to bona fide and progressive farmers. Both the departmental scheme page and the 2025 FAQ use that formulation. There is no scoring system and no lottery.

In practice the horticulture field staff and the centre verify that the applicant holds the required 0.2 hectares, that the applicant genuinely intends to grow mushroom, and that spawn or compost is available in the quantity asked for. Because the state's total production is around five metric tonnes a year, the programme is small and the number of growers supplied in any one season is limited.

How do you check the status of your application?

There is no online tracker for this scheme. Check status directly:

• Ask the Horticulture Development Officer of your block whether your application is registered and forwarded.
• Ask the Mushroom Development Centre at Upper Shillong, Jowai or Tura when the next training batch is scheduled and when spawn will be ready.
• Ask the Assistant Director of Horticulture (Mushroom), Upper Shillong, who the department names specifically as a contact point for this scheme.
• Keep your dated acknowledgement, since order of receipt decides allotment.

Why do applications get rejected, and how do you fix it?

• Land below 0.2 hectares or undocumented. The commonest reason. Fix it with a patta, a registered lease, or a headman's/Nokma's certificate stating the area held.
• Spawn out of stock. Spawn is produced in batches and cannot be stored indefinitely. Ask for your name to be carried to the next batch and get the date.
• Asking for compost when growing oyster mushroom. Pasteurised compost is supplied for button mushroom growers. An oyster grower should ask for spawn and substrate advice instead.
• No training completed. Untrained applicants are usually routed to a training batch first. Treat that as a step, not a refusal.
• Expecting the Rs 22,000 or Rs 30,000 unit assistance outside West Garo Hills. That component, where it operated, was recorded under the District Horticulture Officer, West Garo Hills. Ask your own District Horticulture Officer what is sanctioned for your district this year.

When should you apply?

No last date is published. Because mushroom production in Meghalaya runs from March to October, apply a few months ahead of the season you want to crop in, so that training and spawn supply line up with your growing window rather than falling after it.

Where do you complain if something goes wrong?

Escalate in this order:

1. Horticulture Development Officer of your C&RD Block or Horticulture Circle.
2. Assistant Director of Horticulture (Mushroom), Mushroom Development Centre, Upper Shillong. The officer the department names for this scheme.
3. District Horticulture Officer of your district.
4. Directorate of Horticulture, Cleve Colony, Shillong 793003. Phone 0364-2227434, email hort-meg@nic.in. The suggestions and feedback form on megagriculture.gov.in files a written complaint with the department, and the Directorate of Agriculture is reachable on 0364-2222460 or agri-meg@nic.in.

There is no application fee. The only legitimate payment is the grower's 50 per cent share of the price of spawn or pasteurised compost, taken against a receipt.