MUSHROOM TEA PRODUCTION TRAINING PACKAGE IN CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM TO INCREASE SMALL MEDIUM INDUSTRY (SME) ENTREPRENEURS IN RURAL AREA

Volvariella tea is an innovative beverage of Malaysian Nuclear Agency that produced using Volvariella volvacea mushrooms with the unique taste, aroma and has certain properties for health. This tea can be taken by everyone regardless of age and can be added to other beverages as a source of nutrients, vitamins, and others to improve health. Currently, there have been efforts to grow mushrooms including Volvariella volvacea mushrooms based on the demand for diversity in dishes and awareness of the nutrients by taking mushrooms in daily meals. These mushrooms have a short shelf life after harvesting time and need to be sold in fresh state and cannot be stored in the chiller for a longer time. Due to the vast volume of mushrooms obtained after harvest time, new products such as Volvariella tea is needed to be produced from these mushrooms to avoid any loss because of rotten mushrooms. Malaysian Nuclear Agency has collaborated with Malaysian Innovation Foundation (Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia) and PUSPANITA Nuclear Malaysia (The Association of Wives and Women Civil Servants Malaysia – Malaysian Nuclear Agency) to carry out the project - MSI 17110: Mushroom Tea Production Training Package in Capacity Building Program to Increase Small Medium Industry (SME) Entrepreneurs in Rural Area using MOSTI Social Innovation Fund (MSI). This project was carried out for 6 months in 2018 by transferring the production technology of Volvariella Tea to the community in the village of Rembang Panas, Juasseh, Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan. A total of 25 participants consisted of farmers and rubber tappers were attended series of training on Volvariella volvacea mushrooms cultivation using selected strain seedling produced by Malaysian Nuclear Agency, intensive practical training on production of Volvariella tea and online marketing. Volvariella tea was processed via the drying technique, packed in individual sachet and irradiated for the decontamination process. The participants have managed to set up a company named as Syarikat Rembang Panas Jaya Outlet to carry out the production of Volvariella Tea, other downstream products and conducted the business of the Volvariella Tea products. A total of 125 people has benefited as the impact of the project. With these efforts, the product introduced can be used by the community to generate additional income by mass-producing and selling activities through online marketing.