Imtiaj and Rahman, 2008
95cultivation include temperature, humidity, light andventilation. Optimal levels of them at vegetative stagediffer from those at reproductive stage. Mushroommycelia can survive between 5 and 40
o
C depending onthe species. Mushroom mycelia grow well with thetemperature range between 20 and 30
o
C. Substratemoisture content should be 60-75% and log moisturecontent, 35-45%. During fruiting, different relativehumidity levels, ranging from 80-95%, are needed at theearly, mid and latter stage. Though mycelia like dark togrow but some species require light for fruiting bodyformation. Being aerobic fungi, mushrooms need freshair during growing and ventilation is more required for reproductive stage. In conclusion, among the threefactors, the most important is environmental control. Bymaintaining optimal conditions at each growing stageand for each species, growers can produce the desiredyield of quality mushrooms.
Mushroom cultivation method in Bangladesh
There are many methods of mushroom cultivation but bag cultivation, bottle cultivation, log cultivation andshelf cultivation are usually common. Rice straw,wheat straw, sugarcane waste, banana leaves, grassand sawdust are the major fibrous residues importantfor mushroom cultivation substrates. The pasteurizedsubstrate is usually spawned and packed into polythene bags of about 30cm wide and 60~90cmlong for the bag culture of the oyster mushroom. Thegrowing rooms are maintained at between 18
o
C ~ 25
o
C, with a relative humidity of about 75%. Althoughup to 6 flushes may be obtained from each bag, thefirst three are the most important in commercial production. For every 10kg of dry substrate used, asmuch as 20kg of mushroom can be harvested from thefirst 3~4 flushes. At least 2~3kg are usually harvested per bag. During the cooler winter season,
Pleurotusostreatus
is cultivated while the more heat tolerant
P.sajor-caju
is produced in summer. The buttonmushroom, most often grown by well-financedgrowers, is the main export mushroom. For buttonmushroom cultivation, wheat straw and cow manureare mixed and used as substrate. Some farmers addinorganic fertilizers and/or peat. Cultivation is carriedout in trays. Lower temperatures of about 18
o
C needto be maintained and diseases and pests must beclosely monitored. The expenses and requirements for strict management of the growing room have restrictedthe number of newcomers going into buttonmushroom production.
Data collection
Research methods were used as structured interviewsof 60 households focused especially on experiencesand actual costs and benefits of mushroom, rice andwheat cultivation. Focus group discussion (FGD) andobservation were also carried out in order to determinethe motivation and capacities of both cultivation practices. Other data were gathered by way of interviews with key informants (Government, non-government, public organizations, books and dailynewspaper) and market prospecting. The secondarydata were used from statistical yearbooks, localadministrative and various related sources. For manyelements of the study (cultivation practices, actual costand benefit etc.), semi-quantitative analysis was carriedout for mushroom and other crops (rice and wheat)cultivation at the household level.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The economic analysis of mushroom production wascalculated. The production cost of first and secondround was tk. 20,000.00 (including house cost) andtk.10,700.00 (excluding house cost), respectively.Average net profit of first and second round wasmeasured tk. 10,000.00 and tk. 19,300.00, respectively.After 4 months, average net profit was tk. 29,300.00where total investment was tk. 20,000.00 because theincome earned from first round can be used to cultivatesecond round (Table 1). The profitability of rice, wheatand mushroom was also evaluated and found thatmushroom cultivation is the lucrative one. Weconsidered one acre of land for rice and wheatcultivation, and 30
′
×18
′
in size growing house for mushroom cultivation. After four months, the netincome of rice and wheat were tk.12,240.00 andtk.24,360.00 where total cost were tk.11,760.00 andtk.7,640.00, respectively. Within the same time the costand benefit of mushroom was tk. 30,700.00 andtk.29,300.00, respectively. Interestingly within this four months period mushroom was cultivated two timeswhere average production cost and benefit wastk.20,000.00 and tk.10,000.00 for the first round (costsincluding house), and tk.10,700.00 and tk.19,300.00 for the second round (costs excluding house), respectively(Table 1 and 2). The relative profitability of these threecrops can be focused as the mushroom cultivation ismore profitable. In Zimbabwe farmers have been benefited more by growing mushroom than maize andwheat. The net income of mushroom, maize and wheatare ZWD 1703000.00, ZWD 518500.00 and ZWD1140000.00, respectively (MushWorld, 2004). Thisresult is quite similar to our findings. To the aim of poverty reduction in Bangladesh, mushroom cultivationcould be potential job. Because Bangladesh is located ina tropical monsoon climate which is ideally consideredfor high elevation of mushroom production. Mushroomcultivation can be popular to income generation amongthe women in Bangladesh because of its suitability to
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