An agricultural expert and chairman of Dilomat Farms, Chief Moore Chinda, says mushroom farming can employ one million youths and reduce unemployment, if properly harnessed.

 Chief Chinda who is an expert in mushroom breading and farming called on both the Federal and Rivers State Governments to seek alternative revenue source to reduce the overdependence on oil.

He told The Tide in an exclusive chat on Sunday at the Retirement Thanksgiving Service of former Advert Manager in the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (RSNC) Mrs. Keziah Eddeh that enormous economic potentials abound in mushroom breading and farming.

He argued that contrary to wide held view that the area was new, Chima had in the early 1970s boosted its economy through mushroom exportation.

Coupled with technological advancements in agriculture, he submitted that China currently produces about 99 million dollar  of mushroom yearly.

Chief Chinda stressed, “if we grow mushroom massively we don’t have need to import fertiliser because the wastes are nutritious to plants”.

He remarked that unlike other types of farming that requires huge land and labour, mushroom breeding is cheap and manageable and can be conducted in bedroom size space.

The chairman of Dilomat Farms therefore urged the Federal Government to include the scheme in its Vision 2020 as it is capable of reducing unemployment by a quarter.

He hinted that he is currently conducting more research on the breeding of more mushroom species, declaring that if more work is done in the sector, “we would broaden our economic base so that we can meet local demand”.

The mushroom expert who holds the patent of exclusively breeding the plant from local resources cautioned the citizenry from consuming mushrooms from the wild as a lot of them contain deleterious substance.

Chief Chinda emphasised, “People should consume only cultivated mushrooms because a lot of the varieties they find in the bush are poisonous”.