E. Java to farm edible fungus

E. Java to farm edible fungus

SURABAYA: East Java in cooperation with Taiwanese businessmen
will cultivate edible fungus because the commodity is in great
demand both in the domestic and foreign markets, Antara reported.

"Cultivation of the commodity has been recommended by a
consultant from the Taiwanese Agricultural Technical Mission," a
senior official of the local administration, Tari Soegijono, said
here on Friday.

He said the Taiwanese businessmen plan to build a nursery for
cultivating fungus on six hectares of land in Mojokerto, East
Java, with an initial investment of US$35,000.

He said the nursery was expected to produce prime seeds of
edible fungus packed in "polybags". The price of dried edible
fungus grown by local farmers would be around Rp 8,000 while it
can sell for Rp 40,000 on foreign markets.

According to Soegijono, a recent experiment showed that every
100 square meters of land would yield an annual net profit of
almost Rp 6 million, while the price of prime seed stands at Rp
560/bag.