KOLLAM: Hundred mushroom villages are being made ready under the joint venture of the Agriculture ministry and local body ministry and headed by the Horti Culture Mission. The project will cost about Rs.30 crores. The State Project Committee has given permission for the project.

The project aims at the opportunities for a better market, and value addition entrepreneurship.

The local bodies will set up the mushroom village on the basis of the number of beneficiaries in the area. The activities are divided into the cultivation of mushrooms, seed development, packing, processing, value addition, distribution center, and waste disposal. The government will provide subsidies according to the structure of the unit.

Products of small-scale units will be brought by large-scale units and export opportunities will be examined. The project's first phases is to establish mushroom villages through local self-government.