Economic feasibility of straw mushroom production in Odisha: A case study

Straw Mushroom is regarded as a means of supplementing nutrition to the human beings and is considered as a remunerative enterprise in the state of Odisha. The present study estimates the cost and return in paddy straw mushroom production and tests the economic feasibility of this enterprise highlighting the constraints in straw mushroom production and marketing as well. Various analytical tools viz. cost concepts, benefit-cost ratio, SWOT analysis, and Garrett's ranking technique were employed. The annual benefit-cost ratio was 0.988 indicating that it is not an economically viable enterprise particularly for the small holders. However, the returns over the variable cost were positive. High perishability, storage facilities and extreme climatic conditions were the major threats to the mushroom producers. The study concludes that paddy straw mushroom is an enterprise for subsistence and not a highly remunerative one.