Mushroom Production Workshop Targets Young Entrepreneurs

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Mushroom Collective recently hosted a mushroom workshop, which in part targeted vulnerable young males. The Taiwan ICDF initiative funded the initiative. With mushrooms in demand for their nutritional value, young, vulnerable males and students keen on earning a livelihood through agro-entrepreneurship completed a comprehensive program on the rudiments of mushroom production. Under the Increasing Employment Opportunities Program coordinated through the Agro-Business Mushroom Production project, the training session involved tutorship for Boys Training Centre wards, students from the Centre for Adolescent Renewal and Education (CARE) and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC). The workshop covered theoretical and practical aspects, including mushroom biology, culture and spawn production, food preparation, harvesting, processing, food safety and optimal growing conditions. Head of the Department for Agro-Entrepreneurship and Climate Smart Agriculture at the SALCC, Dr. Catherine Mc. Caan noted that the hands-on experience in the field allowed the students to apply the knowledge. “What we see here is an opportunity for the students to obtain some training in the production of a commodity, which we know there is a demand for in Saint Lucia,” said Dr. Mc Caan. The SALCC tutor said students could use the farm at the SALCC...