Mushrooms are edible

In India, lakhs of people are directly or indirectly dependent on
mushroom cultivation and is a source of their livelihood. Youth and
women are adopting it as an occupation. The country is now producing around one lakh metric tones of mushrooms annually.
Mushrooms with fleshy content is edible, and are non poisonous having desirable taste and aroma.
Not all mushrooms are edible, only less than ten per cent may be
edible. They belong to fungal species, and can grow either below or
above the ground. Mushrooms growing below the ground are known as hypogeous and above the ground are known as epigeous. Epigeous can be seen with naked eye and can be picked up by hand. Some times mushroom are wild, and in most of times they are harvested.
Wild mushrooms that can be edible should be identified to ensure
safety. Because in some individuals it cause allergic reactions.
Moreover old or improperly stored specimens can cause food poisoning.
Recent research shows that due to its anti-tumor properties and
capacity for stimulating the immune system, some species like shitake and oyster mushrooms could provide a powerful new weapon in the fight against cancer. They can also help to reduce side-effects from radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and improve the quality of life for patents in the advanced stages of cancer.
Many of them contain an amino acids, for example, white button mushrooms contain more protein than kidney beans. Shiitake mushrooms are good source of protein. Many are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, as well as the minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium, and in vitamin B, vitamin D, and some of them contain vitamin C in significant amount. The presence of complex sugars, namely polysaccharides are said to be enhance the activity of the immune system.
The market for mushrooms are growing and demand for it is increasing due to interest in their culinary, nutritional, and health benefits. It gives an opportunity for formers those who are interested in an additional enterprise as they can cultivate it in small scale production. It can also play an important role in managing farm organic wastes.
Mushrooms do not contain chlorophyll and depend on other
plant material for their food. At the same time, cultivation of mushrooms are labor intensive, and needs optimal temperature.

Restrict SUVs, save environment

Now a day usage of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are increasing among youth as they are fashioning about these cars. At the same time, use of cheap and toxic diesel in personal cars also witness increasing trend. Both are harmful in concerned with pollution and are adding toxic contents to the surrounding environment.
Diesel related emissions are already very high in many cities across world. Compared to petrol cars, diesel cars emit more toxic particulate matter and nitrogen oxide to the environment. Both are key pollutants, and putting public health at risk. In turn, dirty air increases the medical bills of the innocent people.
Diesel cars emit 7.5 times more toxic particulate matter than petrol cars. That means, one diesel car's emission is equal to 7.5 petrol cars in terms of PM emissions and three petrol cars in terms of NOx emissions. Moreover, diesel cars’ toxicity becomes comparable with petrol only when they are fuelled with near zero sulphur fuel and are fitted with
particulate traps. The market is shifting towards the mid to large car segments, which was so far dominated by small cars, and large cars are generally less fuel-efficient compared to smaller cars.
As environment lovers feel, A 10 per cent increase in large vehicle sales can roughly consume an additional 17,500 barrels of oil annually, and in turn pollute the environment more. Considerable numbers of large cars are run mainly on diesel, and most SUVs are captive users of diesel. Both these undermines air quality. In countries like India ‘clean’ diesel (with 10 ppm of sulphur used with advanced after-treatment systems) is not available, and is adding additional burden on air pollution.
According to health experts, even at very low concentrations PM2.5 could cause health problems. An increase of 10 microgram per cubic metre would increase in health risks like asthma, heart damage, and lung diseases, and long-term exposure may cause lung cancer among public.
Immediate policy intervention from governments is the need of the hour. Governments should discourage big cars and SUVs by linking taxation to the actual fuel consumption of the vehicles. That means vehicles with higher consumption should pay more tax. Governments should initiate action to introduce ‘Clean’ diesel technology that runs on diesel fuel with sulphur content less than 10 ppm and is fitted with advanced emissions.