MUSHROOM CULTIVATION
Mushroom is an edible fungus with great diversity
in shape, size and color.
Essentially mushroom is a vegetable that is
cultivated in protected farms in a highly sanitized
atmosphere.
Just like other vegetables, mushroom contains
90% moisture with high in quality protein.
Mushrooms are fairly good source of vitamin C
and B complex.
The protein have 60-70% digestibility and contain
all essential amino acids.
It is also rich source of minerals like Ca, P, K and
Cu.
They contain less fat and CHO and are considered
good for diabetic and blood pressure patients.
Species:
There are three types of mushrooms popularly
cultivated in India.
They are 1. Oyster mushroom – Pleurotus sp.
2. Paddy straw mushroom – Volvariella
volvacea
3 .White bottom mushroom – Agaricus
bisporus
METHOD OF PRODUCTION
A.Ovster mushroom
B. Paddy straw mushroom
C. Button mushroom
A. Ovster mushroom:
Take fresh paddy straw and cut into small pieces
of 3-5 cm length. Soak them in water for 4-6 hours
and then boil for half an hour.
Drain the water and dry the straw in shade till it is
neither too dry nor wet.
Take polythene bags of 60 x 30 cm size and make
two holes of one cm diameter in the center of the
bag such that they face opposite sides.
Tie the bottom of the bag with a thread to make a
flat bottom. Fill the bag with paddy straw to 10 cm
height.
Then inoculate with the spawn. Likewise prepare
4-5 layers of straw and spawn alternatively.
The last layer ends up in straw of 10 cm height.
Keep this in a spawn running room maintained at a
temperature of about 22-28 o C and with RH 85-
90%.
After 15-20 days when the spawn running is
completed, cut open the polythene bag and take it
to cropping room and allow it to grow for 7 days
and harvest the mushroom.
Mushroom yield is around 0.5-1.0 kg/bag.
B. Paddy straw mushroom:
Cut the straw into long pieces of 60-90 cm and
soak in water for 12 hours and sterilize 15
minutes.
Arrange the straw in bundles. Lay the moistened
straw bundles on the slightly raised concrete floor
or on wooden platform in layers of four bundles
width.
Spawn or seed the beds simultaneously in each
layer either by broadcasting or placing the grain
spawn at different spots.
Sprinkle grain dhal over each layer on the spawn.
Don’t spawn below the topmost layer.
Maintain it at 30-35 0C. Harvesting is ready after
25-30 days. Yield is around 1-1.5 kg/bed.
C. Button mushroom:
It requires a complex method of preparing
compost, which is used as a substrate for
mushroom production.
Spawning is done by three methods, viz., surface
spawning, layer spawning and trough spawning.
Fill the trays with compost and do spawning. After
spawning, compost is pressed hard to make it
compact.
The trays are arranged in the cropping room in
tiers and cover with newspaper sheet sprayed with
2% formalin.
The temperature of 20- 25 oC and RH of 90-95%
should be maintained.
After spawn running is completed in 15-20 days
and do casing.
Pin heads appear within 10-15 days after casing.
Cropping continues for 60-75 days.
Mushrooms can be harvested at button stage.
Yield ranges from 6-7 kg/m2.
