MUSHROOM

CULTIVATION
K.KISHORE
 Do you want to grow mushrooms?
There are plenty of reasons to do so.
Mushrooms are a good cash crop;
they are rather easy to grow and are
brimming with protein, B vitamins
and minerals.
They even have medicinal properties
 When choosing your method to grow mushrooms,
you have to find an answer to the following
questions:
1 Which of the mushrooms do you want to grow?
Check the market and the temperature ranges for
fruiting
2 Can you obtain mushroom spawn (the seed) of
the species you want to grow?
3 What kind of substrate would you need to be able
to grow the de- sired mushrooms?
4 How should you treat the substrate? This affects
the investments you have to make.
 Key factors to induce fruiting
bodies are:

changing temperature
high humidity
deficiency of a nutrient
CO2 concentration in the air
light
physical shock
 These factors differ from mushroom
to mushroom. Most of the changes
that stimulate fruiting have a
negative effect on the vegetative
growth of the mycelium
Changes should therefore only be
made when the mycelium has
completely grown
 TEMPERATURE OF MUSHROOM
CULTIVATION
Choose a species that fruits at temperatures near
your outdoor temperatures. This limits
investments in climate control and reduces
energy costs. There are actually few species
suited to really tropical conditions. The only
mushrooms currently being cultivated at
temperatures around or just below 30 C are:
oyster mush- rooms (Pleurotus cystidiosus /
abalones / ostreatus var. florida) and Volvariella
volvacea, Agaricus bitorquis, Stropharia rugoso-
annulata and wood ear mushrooms (Auricularia
politricha)
 MUSHROOM FARMS
Certain factors should be kept in
mind when selecting a site for a
mushroom farm:
distance to the market
availability of good quality substrate
material
transportation of both product and
substrate material
ready availability of clean water
 FARM LAY OUT
The farm layout should also include:
An efficient flow of substrate
materials
Measures to prevent contamination
on the farm
Efficient use of space
 FLOOR
On a low investment level, mushroom houses are just
built on arable land. On a higher investment level,
cemented floors are used. Slightly inclined
cemented floors provide a smooth surface that can
easily be cleaned and allow excess water to drain.
A screened basket could be used to collect the
coarse debris from the drained water. The drainage
system of the different rooms should not be
connected to prevent a disease in one growing
room from easily spreading to other rooms. The
floors should also be smooth to facili- tate handling
and transport of materials.