Vice Chancellor of SKUAST-Jammu, Prof. JP Sharma, and Former Additional Director, DRDO, Dr. Sumati Sharma visited Division of Biochemistry, SKUAST-J to have an overview of the research initiative being taken up by the Division regarding standardization of cultivation technology and improving the cordycepin content in Cordyceps mushroom, commonly known as Keedajadi mushroom.
He was accompanied by Registrar Prof. S.K. Gupta, Director Research Prof. Pardeep Kumar Wali, Dean, faculty of Agriculture, Prof. A.K. Mondal, Dean, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Prof. S.E.H. Rizvi, Controller of Examination, Prof. Rajinder Peshin, Comptroller, Madan Lal, Nodal Officer, ICAR, Dr. Anil Kumar and other officers of the University.
He interacted with Prof. Moni Gupta and her team working on this highly prized mushroom and advised them to explore natural reserves to have more scientific understanding of the mushroom.
Cordyceps mushroom generally collected from the high altitude forests of Himalayas is sold at a price of 3 to 4 lakhs per kilogram. It is also known as Himalayan Viagra and is a medicinal mushroom with proven anti-aging and other beneficial medicinal and therapeutic properties.
Its cultivation can be taken up by the mushroom growers as an enterprise fetching very high returns. On this occasion Pavleen Kour, research scholar working on this mushroom gave a detailed powerpoint presentation about the various aspects of this mushroom on which work is being carried out by their team.
The team also interacted with Prof. Sanjay Guleria, Head, Division of Biochemistry and Dr. Vikas Sharma, Associate Professor. All the visiting dignitaries appreciated the research work and hoped that in the near future the Division of Biochemistry will come up with a package for cultivation of this mushroom and entrepreneurship opportunities shall be explored for cultivation of this mushroom on a commercial scale.