MUSHROOM PRODUCTION

Mushroom

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies produced by some fungi. Not all fruit bodiesare true mushrooms. Puffballs and morels are edible fruit bodies that are sometimes called "mushrooms".

MUSHROOM HOUSE

• A thatched Shed of 16 sq.m. is required. Divide the shed into spawn running and cropping rooms
• Spawn running room: maintain 25-300C, provide ventilation, no light is required
• Cropping room: Maintain 23-250C, RH above 75-80% with moderate light and aeration.(Digital Thermometers and Humidity meters are available in the market)

SPAWN (MUSHROOM SEEDING)

• Suitable substrate: Jowar/Cholam/Sorghum, Maize, Wheat grains
• Preparation of spawn: half cook the grains, air dry, mix with Calcium carbonate powder at 2% level, fill the grains in empty glucose drip bottles, plug with cotton and sterilize in cooker for 2 hours.
• Put the pure culture of the fungus (Procured from agriculture departments/agrl. Universities) and incubate at room temperature for 15 days. Use 15-18 days old spawn for spawning.

PREPARATION OF MUSHROOM BED

• Suitable substrate: Paddy/wheat straw, sugarcane baggasse, hulled maize cobs
• Cooking of substrate: Cut into 5cm bits, soak in potable water for 5 hrs, boil water for one hour, drain the water, air dry to 65% moisture (no water drips when squeezed between hands)

Preparation of bags:

• Use 60x30 cm polythene bags (both side open).
• Tie one end of bag, put two holes of 1 cm dia in the middle.

• Put handful of cooked straw in the bag to a height of 5 cm; sprinkle about 25 g of spawn.
• Layer the straw to 25 cm height. Repeat the process to get four layers of spawn and 5 layers of straw.
• Tie the mouth and arrange beds in tiers in the spawn running room.
• After 15-20 days, cut and remove the polythene bag and transfer the beds to cropping room.
• Keep the beds moist by periodical spraying with water.

SEASON AND VARIETIES

• Throughout the year
• Cultivation is indoor and it requires mushroom house
• White oyster (Co-1) and Grey Oyster (M-2) are suitable for Tamil Nadu

HARVEST

• Mushroom pin heads appear on 3rd day of opening of beds and mature in 3 days.
• Harvest matured mushrooms daily or alternate days, before spraying water.
• Second and third harvest can be obtained after scraping the surface of beds after first or second harvest.