<p>The new variety, "monkey head mushroom", is medicinally important mushroom reported to inhibit the growth of various kinds of cancers, Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR) in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, said.<br /><br />"We would soon go in for pharmaceutical evaluation of the new variety and then subsequently commercialise it," DMR Director Manjit Singh told PTI.<br /><br />He said DMR successfully cultivated the mushroom on autoclaved wheat straw (fruiting temperature 20-25 degree celsius) a few months ago, using indigenous tissue culture from a mushroom fruit body collected during surveys.<br /><br />Mushroom production has increased from 10,000 tonnes to one lakh tonnes in India in the last two decades, Singh said.<br /><br />He added that India produces a huge pile (about 600 million tonnes) of agricultural waste that can be effectively used for cultivating different mushrooms.<br /><br />DMR said the development will also pave the way for commercialisation of oyster mushroom cultivation.<br /><br />Mushroom is a nutritious vegetable with high content of protein, Vitamin B12, folic acid, lysine and typtophan amino acids and a natural source of Vitamin D.<br /><br />The Directorate works under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which is an autonomous organisation under the Agriculture ministry.</p>
<p>The new variety, "monkey head mushroom", is medicinally important mushroom reported to inhibit the growth of various kinds of cancers, Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR) in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, said.<br /><br />"We would soon go in for pharmaceutical evaluation of the new variety and then subsequently commercialise it," DMR Director Manjit Singh told PTI.<br /><br />He said DMR successfully cultivated the mushroom on autoclaved wheat straw (fruiting temperature 20-25 degree celsius) a few months ago, using indigenous tissue culture from a mushroom fruit body collected during surveys.<br /><br />Mushroom production has increased from 10,000 tonnes to one lakh tonnes in India in the last two decades, Singh said.<br /><br />He added that India produces a huge pile (about 600 million tonnes) of agricultural waste that can be effectively used for cultivating different mushrooms.<br /><br />DMR said the development will also pave the way for commercialisation of oyster mushroom cultivation.<br /><br />Mushroom is a nutritious vegetable with high content of protein, Vitamin B12, folic acid, lysine and typtophan amino acids and a natural source of Vitamin D.<br /><br />The Directorate works under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which is an autonomous organisation under the Agriculture ministry.</p>