Mushroom farming is one of the most profitable agri-business that you can start with a low investment and less space. Its cultivation is growing gradually as an alternative source of income for many people.
Making the right decision
BY SITI NURAIN RATANI
Her deep interest in entrepreneurship and determination for success inspired 36-year-old Dayangku Khalizawati Awangku Serma to take a leap of faith and quit her day job as a civil servant.
Formerly serving in the Pathology Department of the Sarawak General Hospital, Dayangku is now more comfortable growing mushrooms, which she has been working on since 2010.
She started her journey of growing mushrooms on a small scale in the yard of her house in Taman Desa Wira, Batu Kawa with the help of her husband. Dayangku, who cultivates oyster, oil palm, split gill and paddy straw mushrooms, is now able to harvest between 10 to 50kg of mushrooms every day, generating around RM10,000 to RM15,000 per month.
“At first, I bought mushroom blocks just for fun, but after doing a little research and finding out that the price of mushrooms never goes down and that it is always in high demand, I started to put more effort in it.
“After a short while, realising that our mushroom business is improving and becoming more profitable, my husband also left his career at the Land Custody And Development Authority (LCDA) to help me manage our growing business.
“To date, we have over 50,000 mushroom blocks in the storehouse,” she said.
Mushroom blocks in the storehouse. Photo: Ummi Munirah 
Apart from selling fresh mushrooms, Dayangku also supplies mushroom blocks. Photo: Ummi Munirah
Further elaborating, the mother of five added that the growing demand for mushrooms at the time made Dayangku and her husband worked harder to further increase production to meet the market throughout Sarawak as well as Malaya.
Speaking on mushroom production, Dayangku explained that production depends a lot on weather conditions.
Typically, the output will double in the rainy season due to high humidity while during the summer, mushrooms will need to be watered regularly to prevent the seeds from dying. This usually happens if the temperature in the storehouse is too hot.
As for the price, fresh mushrooms are sold at a wholesale price of RM20 per kilogramme.
Apart from selling fresh mushrooms, Dayangku also supplies mushroom blocks, made using a mixture of rubber wood dust, wheat bran, lime and water for RM3.50 per unit.
“To make a mushroom block, first of all, it needs to be steamed for eight hours and then filled with seeds developed from my own research and fermented for two months.
“All these procedures must be done carefully because the block can be easily contaminated. Mushrooms can grow between five to eight times in a good block,” she said.
In the meantime, Dayangku said she and her husband have collaborated with Universiti Malaya (UM) and Permanent Food Production Park (TKPM) under the Department of Agriculture in an effort to produce high-impact agricultural products where they have already started growing mushrooms at TKPM Bau and also on a farm in Negeri Sembilan.
Asked about the challenges that the couple faced during the early years, Dayangku said apart from the lack of knowledge in mushroom cultivation, their family also disapproved their decision.
“Initially,due to insufficient knowledge, as many as 10,000 of our mushroom blocks at that time died of bacteria and disease. After that, we did a lot of research and from there, our knowledge about mushrooms grow.
“Therefore, knowing the importance of knowledge (in mushroom cultivation), we have already trained our children so that they can take over our business when the time comes,” she explained.
“As for our family members, I totally understood their point of view at the time. We were just starting out our business and gave up a secure source of income. But now, they have accepted the fact that we made the right decision.”
In addition to giving priority to her business, at the same time, Dayangku also strives to help her five employees — who are school dropouts and some of them almost became victims of drug abuse — to find a new light in their lives by mentoring them in entrepreneurship.
Not only that, in an effort to encourage more people to venture into mushroom farming, Dayangku and her husband also often hold online and face-to-face courses and workshops for those who want to venture into the industry.
“Those who are interested are only charged a one-time fee of RM250 and they will be given guidance for three months on how to grow and care for mushrooms (theoretically and practically).
“This year alone, more than 1,100 entrepreneurs from Sarawak, Sabah and Malaya have been involved with the programme,” she said.
In recognition of their hard work and dedication, the couple have won several awards such as the RBC Harapan in Rural Business Challenge CEO Desa in 2017, Founder Benih Cendawan Gagah Menang Superb Teraju (2017) and Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia champion for the public category (2017).
Apart from that Dayangku is also a Sarawak Youth Leaders (Souls) Supreme Council member.
Those who are interested in mushroom farming and want to be fully guided, contact Dayangku at 012-8727969.
