Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(4): 1579-1583 1579 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.904.185 Perceived Constraints in Mushroom Production Enterprise in West Bengal Rakesh Roy*, Bankim Chandra Rudra, Debjyoti Majumder and Adwaita Mondal Malda Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Ratua, Malda-732205, West Bengal, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Mushroom is a fungal growth that typically takes the form of a domed cap on a stalk, with gills on the underside of the cap. Mushroom also called 'white vegetables' or 'boneless vegetarian meat' contains ample amounts of proteins, vitamins and fibre (Sharma et al., 2016). India has great potential for production of mushroom from abundantly available recyclable agro-waste like cereals straws, enormous domestic market, cheap manpower, congenial climate, strong technical base and government support. Mushroom growing has been appreciated as a technically feasible and profitable venture and widely accepted by the researchers as a good venture for his income, employment generation and rural development. Though it is highly recommended by researchers and extension agents but the famers find various constraints in adoption of this enterprise. Researchers have revealed that International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 4 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The study was undertaken with an objective to assess perceived constraints of mushroom grower in mushroom production enterprise. The study was purposively undertaken in flood prone Malda district of West Bengal due to gaining popularity of mushroom production enterprise among rural women and unemployed rural youth who were adopting this venture for employment generation. The rural youth were very much interested in mushroom production enterprise but now they have perceived various constraints in adoption of this enterprise for self-employment. The various perceived constraints were assessed in terms of technical, economical, infrastructural, general and marketing constraints. Unavailability of quality spawn was highest ranked technical constraints. High cost of spawn and poor supply of spawn at appropriate time were highest ranked economical and infrastructural constraints respectively. Poor knowledge about nutritive value of mushroom and lack of local market were highest ranked general and marketing constraints respectively. It is therefore recommended that constraints should be minimized to boost up the enterprises. To do that, policy makers should come up with some suitable policies to minimize these constraints. Further, the extension agencies should take up skill oriented training programmes and awareness programmes for the mushroom growers and rural youth in large scale for their self-employment. Keywords Constraints, Economical, Infrastructural, Mushroom, Marketing, Technical Accepted: 12 March 2020 Available Online: 10 April 2020 Article Info