Promoting Mushroom Cultivation in Jamaica

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Currently, there is a great desire and need by the Jamaican society to grow mushrooms, including oyster, white button and medicinal varieties. They are demanded at all levels of society and by the tourist industry. Therefore, Dr. Khalid Hameed served as a F2F volunteer in September 2019 to promote mushroom cultivation in Jamaica. Dr. Hameed holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Mycology and has over 20 years of experience as a Professor. 

During the two weeks he was in the country, Dr. Hameed worked in five different parishes. In the Kingston parish he trained farmers on the compost and composting process for button mushrooms, started a small horse manure pile and taught them how to create a spawn lab. In Saint Thomas he supported a mycology lab that produces edible mushrooms and medicinal fungi by training them on how to make and use media and tissue culture.

In Clarendon he worked with a mushroom house where he showed them how to prepare and inoculate the substrate; while in the Saint Ann parish he trained a group of women on substrate preparation, steam sterilization and inoculation. Finally, in Manchester he trained a mushroom farm on how to fumigate, prepare media and work with fungal cultures.



After these visits, he had the opportunity to discuss his work at the radio station, Jamaica Information Service (JIS): The Voice of Jamaica. During the interview, he explained the process of oyster mushroom cultivation and how significant it is for the people of Jamaica. He also gave a general review of the current mushroom initiatives by farmers, groups of women, and individuals in the country.

On the same day, he met with a group of the Rural Agriculture Development Agency (RADA) staff members at the Ministry of Agriculture where he presented about mushroom cultivation. His presentation was followed by a constructive discussion centered on how the extension body of the Ministry of Agriculture or RADA could promote this industry in Jamaica.

At the end of his assignment, Dr. Hameed recommended to RADA that they encourage and promote mushroom growing to investors and farmers all over the island and endorse oyster mushrooms as a food and food additive at all levels of society. In this way, he is sure that mushrooms will contribute to guarantee food safety and develop the economy of Jamaica.


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