Kargil, Oct 09, 2023: The Dept. of Botany, University of Jammu launches a booklet on the culturing techniques of newly discovered Mushroom, Kargil Dingrii, at Government Degree College Drass. 

Professor Yash Pal Sharma, Dept. of Botany, University of Jammu organized an awareness campaign on “Mushrooms for Nutrition, Health and Well-being” at GDC Drass under the project National Mission on Himalayan studies (NMHS).

A booklet dealing with the culturing techniques, crop management and conservation of Kargil Dingrii, a newly discovered mushroom from the Drass was also released at the event.

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The NMHS is a Central Sector Grant-in-aid Scheme, targets to provide much-needed focus, through holistic understanding of system’s components and their linkages, in addressing the key issues relating to the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). As the Mission specifically targets the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), the jurisdiction of NMHS includes 11 Himalayan states fully (i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, UT Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand) and two states partially (i.e., hill districts of Assam and West Bengal).

Before proceeding into the session, the guests were honoured with traditional khataks followed by the welcome speech by Principal, GDC Drass, Dr Amjad Ali Abbasi.

Dr Abbasi provided a brief introduction of the guest speakers and also briefed the college students about the purpose of the event.The guest speaker, Professor Yash Pal Sharma, started with a brief introduction of NMHS Project, how he and his team worked with the project for exploring the mushrooms of Drass and Kargil region.

It was after the immense labour work put into play that several new species of mushrooms were discovered from the mentioned regions, the speaker said.

One among the newly discovered mushroom was Shentelii, a purely endemic species to Drass region. It has been named as mushroom of Tiger Hill, Drass Dingrii and Kargil Dingrii based on the locality where it was discovered. Furthermore, the speaker demonstrated how the Shentelii was identified using Mycobank, Genebanks and how it can be cultured in the laboratory. He also discussed at length about how this mushroom can be grown in the field using the agri-wastes and litter from which a Shentelii cultivating unit can easily be set up.

The other newly found edible and non-edible mushrooms by professor Sharma such as Lactarius Drassinus, Amanita hemiphaba, Auricularia auricula, Ophiocardinus sinensis, Termite mushrooms, kandi mushrooms etc. from UT Ladakh and Baderwah, Jammu were also showcased to the audience, comprising of both students and faculty of the college. 

The second guest speaker of the event was Prof. Harish Chander Dutt who spoke about the expedition to UT Ladakh for exploring its biodiversity. He also brought into the limelight importance of ethnobotany and preservation of the traditional knowledge.

Lastly, Dr Amjad Ali Abbasi presented the vote of thanks in the presence of staff and the students.