AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
MUSHROOM CULTIVATION
(AGA -453)
B.Sc. (Hons.), B.Sc. Integrated MBA
Chandigarh University
Gharuan (Mohali)
Practical -10
Aim of the Practical: To have knowledge of various types of infrastructure, acquaintance
with the equipments and machineries used during the mushroom cultivation process.
A. Infrastructure Required:
1. Spawn production laboratory: Basically minimum 4 to 5 rooms with clean and tile fitted
floors and walls are required for a spawn production laboratory. The rooms will be required
for storing raw materials; boiling of grains, mixing & filling in PP bags / glass bottles and for
their autoclaving; one inoculation chamber fitted with glass doors containing Laminar flow;
one or two insulated rooms for incubation of inoculated bags and one cold room required for
storing completely spawn run bags ready for distribution.
2. Compost preparation and cropping unit:
A big cemented and well covered composting yard for preparation of compost
and other substrates.
One or more Insulated Pasteurization Chambers for the pasteurization of compost.
A cemented, well insulated, small chamber for sterilization of casing mixture.
One well built, clean and fly proof mushroom production unit with more than
six insulated cropping rooms fitted with air handling units and steel racks for
production of mushrooms.
3. One room for the storage and packaging of harvested material is also required.
B. Machinery and Equipments Required: Various types of machineries and equipments
having different uses will be required in a mushroom production unit.
a) For Spawn production unit:
1. Big Autoclave (Horizontal type): It is required for the sterilization of grain bottles and
substrates filled in polypropylene bags for producing spawn and also the non-composted
substrates for production of speciality mushrooms.
2. Small Autoclave (Standing type): It is for the sterilization of culture media in tubes / flasks
and the substrates, including grains for production of Master culture and spawn in glass bottles
/ PP bags on a small scale.
3. Pressure Cooker: A big size pressure cooker ( 5-10 litre capacity ) will be required for
sterilization of media for routine laboratory work.
4. Boiler: Baby boiler run by wood fuel, electricity or diesel will be required for production of
pressure steam for boiling, sterilization of grains and pasteurization of compost and casing
mixture.
5. Laminar Air Flow: This is the machine on or in front of which isolations are taken or
inoculation of grain bags / bottles with master cultures is done under aseptic conditions. The
positive air pressure passed through the HEPA filters (High Efficiency Particulate Air) retains
most of the fine bacterial and fungal spores so as to have minimum contamination problem.
6. Boiling Vessels: Steam operated Stainless Steel boiling vessels are required for boiling of
grains.
7. Weighing Machine: Weighing machines is necessarily required for the exact measurement of
raw materials for producing spawn and compost.
8. Steel or cemented racks: Racks are required in the incubation and storage rooms on which
the inoculated bags are to be kept at a particular temperature for mycelial run and their storage
at different temperatures. Steel or iron racks will also be required for keeping large number of
compost bags at required temperatures during spawn run and cropping stages.
9. Steel Trolleys: About 5-6 pushing type steel trolleys will be required for easy movement and
carriage of grain bags, spawn bottles, compost bags and other materials from one room to
another room
10. BOD Incubators: These are required to incubate cultures inoculated or transferred in tubes,
Petri dishes, flasks and Master culture bottles for their speedy growth at a fixed temperature.
11. Oven: The oven is required for the sterilization of glasswares, including Petri plates,
pipettes, beakers, glass tubes etc.
12. Refrigerators: In order to maintain purity of the fungal cultures for a considerable period,
these are to be kept in the refrigerators in a cool environment.
13. Wire mesh Tray: One or two wire mesh trays will be required for removing excess water
from boiled cereal grains or the boiled substrates like straw or sawdust used for mushroom
production.
b) For composting and cropping unit:
1. Blowers: Blowers of different capacities are required in the pasteurization
room and cropping rooms for supply of fresh air and steam.
2. Air Handling Unit: Air handling unit is required for supply of filtered fresh /
hot / cool air inside the cropping as well as the pasteurization rooms.
3. Spray Pumps: For maintaining humidity (80-90%) inside the cropping rooms,
the floors, walls and mushrooms beds are to be daily sprayed with clean water using
fine nozzle spray pump to get misty sprays.
4. Pile formers or Boards: It consists of three wooden planks or steel boards of desired
size (4-5 feet height, 4-4.5 feet width and 5-6 feet length) for making the compost pile. It
is used every time the compost is turned so as to give support to the pile while stacking.
5. Long handled pitchfork: These are used for compost turning, handling and filling of
compost.
6. Shovel or belcha: Used for handling and filling of materials.
7. Hose with nozzle: It is for the watering and quick wetting of basic materials in bulk
like straw, chicken manure, horse dung etc, when used on a large scale.
8. Small tractor with a front loader: This tractor will be helpful in turning,
transferring and handling of heavy materials like compost, casing and other materials.
9. Turning machine: It is a machine fitted with rotators which helps in rapid and
efficient turning of compost using negligible number of laborers.
10. Conveyer Belts: These are long and moving belt like structures which help in
transferring compost or other materials mechanically from one place to other in a very
speedy manner that saves labour and time.
11. Thermometers: These are required for measuring temperature of the compost heaps
on the platform, compost beds in the spawn running, cropping rooms, pasteurization
rooms so as to know temperature at every stage of composting and mushroom growing.
12. Hygrometer: For measuring humidity inside the cropping and spawn running rooms.
13. The pH meter: An instrument for measuring pH of the materials like compost,
casing mixture, media etc.
