Dr. Brij Lal Attri
Director (Acting)

Welcome to ICAR–Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan

We welcome you to ICAR–Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR), Solan, Himachal Pradesh. It is a constituent institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India.

The institute was established in 1983 as the National Centre for Mushroom Research and Training. It was renamed the National Research Centre for Mushroom in 1997 and upgraded to the Directorate of Mushroom Research in 2008. It is the only institute in the country working exclusively on mushrooms and is mandated to undertake strategic and applied research on the collection, conservation, utilisation, production and post-harvest technology of edible and medicinal mushrooms, along with extension and capacity building.

The Directorate also serves as the headquarters of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Mushroom, with coordinating and cooperating centres across India. The network works on germplasm collection, validation and evaluation of mushroom technologies under different agro-climatic conditions and provides services to growers.

ICAR-DMR and its AICRP centres provide training and support to mushroom growers and entrepreneurs, including spawn-related services, preparation of techno-economic feasibility reports (TEFR), advice on cultivation, disease management, post-harvest handling and farm design. The institute also shares technical information through its website and extension activities.

The Directorate has developed mushroom varieties and cultivation technologies suited to different agro-climatic regions of India. Continued research, technology validation and extension efforts aim to strengthen mushroom production, entrepreneurship and the livelihood opportunities of farmers.