Solan: In a major breakthrough, a young agriculture scientist at the Directorate Mushroom Research (DMR), Solan, has successfully cultivated the Gucchi (Morchella) Mushroom.
Young Agriculture scientist Dr Anil Kumar was assigned the task in 2019 to cultivate the Guchhi Mushroom, a leading English daily has reported.
Dr Anil Kumar had chosen five species for the experiments, and after succeeding in standardizing the substrate preparation technique, Dr Anil, in his first trial started in October 2019 succeeded in developing mature ascomata of 13 cm length under greenhouse conditions on April 13, 2020. In the second research trial, agriculture scientist succeeded and induced 12 ascomata under greenhouse conditions latest on February 23.
The DMR had made several unsuccessful attempts to cultivate Gucchi mushroom in the past and with Dr Anil Kumar success – India has entered the list of select countries such as the USA, China, France that have successfully attempted to cultivate Gucchi mushroom under artificial conditions. Dr Anil’s success has raised our hope to cultivate Guchhi Mushroom, but there is still a need to improvise it further before it transferred to farmers.
What is Gucchi Mushroom?
Guchhi mushroom is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae of the Ascomycota. They are pale yellow in colour with large pits and ridges on the surface of the cap, raised on a large white stem.
Guchhi Mushroom is known for its flavour and medicine value and as it’s rare to cultivate. So far Guchhi mushrooms haven’t been cultivated commercially and grow naturally in some part of forests across temperature regions, and the foothills in Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Health benefits of Gucchi
These mushrooms are also replete with health benefits. They are rich in potassium, vitamins and copper. They are also a rich source of vitamin D apart from several B-vitamins.
Guchhi Mushroom is also rich in antioxidants that prevent health issues including heart diseases and diabetes by removing reactive oxygen species that harm the body.
