By Elias Shilangwa
The desire to ensure the growing and continuous supply of mushrooms prompted Stephanie Sakala, a resident of Lusaka, the Zambian capital, to undergo a mushroom training program financed by China.
Sakala, the Operations Manager at Maiwase Farm, a subsidiary of Kasalari Development Corporation, and two other workers decided to undergo oyster mushroom growing training at the China-Zambia Agricultural Technologies Demonstration Center (ATDC) in March this year.
After undergoing training, she said they started the mushrooming project in June and that she was happy with what has been achieved in such a short time.
She said the training was worthwhile and the knowledge acquired will go a long way in ensuring all-around production of mushrooms unlike the traditional way of waiting for the rainy season before seeing mushrooms.
“So far we are impressed. We did not expect this much of a harvest. When we started we thought we would get less than this. We have been overwhelmed with what has come out so far,” she told Xinhua.
The farm, she said, managed to harvest 20 kg of oyster mushroom in the first week which moved to 50 kg and later to over 100 kg.
While acknowledging that the market for oyster mushrooms in Zambia was still a challenge, Sakala expressed confidence that with more sensitizations, Zambians will be able to appreciate it because of the benefits it has compared to traditionally grown mushrooms.
She further commended the training center on the training it has been providing because they cater to categories of people regardless of their educational background.
On future plans, she said the farms intend to venture into the growing of other mushrooms such as Button mushrooms as well as the production of seeds as currently there is a challenge in accessing the seeds.
Sydro Simantombwe, another beneficiary of the training program and a worker at Maiwase Farm, expressed gratitude for the training provided, saying he has been empowered with a skill he can use to empower himself.
XINHUA
