Mushroom Cultivation

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Below are references on mushroom culture (click on title to view pdf file):

Small-scale mushroom cultivation – AD40

Mushroom cultivation fits in very well with sustainable farming and has several advantages:

  1. It uses agricultural waste products
  2. A high production per surface area can be obtained
  3. After picking, the spent substrate is still a good soil conditioner

This Agrodok contains detailed information on how to grow three kinds of mushrooms: oyster, shiitake and wood ear mushrooms. These mushrooms are rather easy to grow on a small scale. Cultivation of the common white button mushroom and of the rice straw mushroom is

very different and will therefore be dealt with in another Agrodok

Small-scale mushroom cultivation – AD41

The first Agrodok on ‘Small-scale mushroom cultivation’, Agrodok no. 40, describes the technique of mushroom cultivation on substrates that only need heat treatment. Certain mushroom species however, like the Rice Straw Mushroom (Volvariella spp.) and the Button Mushroom (Agaricus spp.) can only be cultivated on fermented substrate or compost. Rice Straw Mushrooms are cultivated in the warmer climates of the tropical regions, whereas the growing of the Button Mushrooms predominantly takes place in more moderate climates.

The process of composting for mushroom cultivation is more complex than the preparation of temperature treated substrates. For that reason it seemed appropriate to publish a second Agrodok that meets the demand and covers the lack of information on this specific subject. It describes the complete process of composting of agricultural wastes as well as the cultivation of the appropriate species mentioned above. Moreover, it proves to be necessary to treat the process of obtaining good quality spawn and spawn production (propagation material) in detail in a separate chapter.

Special emphasis has been put on the minimum requirements for growing conditions, mushroom houses and equipment for both species in order to avoid problems and to be cost-effective. Additionally, attention has been given to harvesting and post harvest handling. A high demand for processed (mostly canned) mushrooms does exist in suburban and urbanised regions. Consequently the basics of mushroom processing have been covered in a separate chapter. Whereas knowledge on marketing in the field of small-scale mushroom cultivation is still rather poor, it also seemed appropriate to add a chapter on marketing in which the importance and possibilities of the local and regional market(s) are pointed out.