MUSHROOM CULTIVATION PROCEDURE

BUTTON MUSHROOM CULTIVATION

AIM: To cultivate the button and oyster mushroom

INTRODUCTION

A mushroom is described as the “fruiting body of a fungus plant that typically appears above the ground and contains spores”. It is this fleshy bracket (fruiting body) that is commonly eaten and which reproduces by dispersing spores in the same way that other plants disperse seeds. Instead of drawing nutrients through the roots, fungi are sustained by a network of fine, microscopic threads known collectively as the “mycelium”. This network can extend over vast distances, implanting into rotting wood, soil, or other preferred medium.

Fungi are more akin to molds and yeasts than to vegetable plants. Although mushrooms are technically part of the plant kingdom, they are very different organisms since they do not contain chlorophyll or have a root system. Mushrooms must also rely on organic material for their nutrition and do so in three ways:

• as saprophytes (living on dead wood or dead tissue of living trees or dung)
• as parasites (attacking living plant or animal tissue), or
• as mycorrhizae (having a symbiotic relationship with plants).

To separate some of the confusion as to what is a simple fungus and what is a mushroom, scientists now generally use the term 'mushroom' to encompass fungi of either the order Agaricales or the order Boletales.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

Spawn, PDA media, paddy straw, Calcium carbonate, polypropylene cover, autoclave, gloves, jude threads, Cotton

SPAWN PREPARATION:            Procedure Wash the sorghum/paddy straw grains in water thoroughly to remove chaffy and damaged grains. Cook the grains in an autoclave / vessel for 30 minutes just to soften them. Take out the cooked grains and spread evenly over a dry platform to remove the excess water. Mix Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) thoroughly with the cooked, dried grains/paddy @ 20 g / kg. Fill the grains in polypropylene bags up to ¾ th height (approximately 300-330 g/bag), insert a PVC ring, bold the edges of the bag down and plug the mouth tightly with non-absorbent cotton wool. Cover the cotton plug with a piece of waste paper and tie tightly around the neck with a jute thread. Arrange the bags inside an autoclave and sterilize under 20 lbs. pressure for 2 hours. Take out the bags after cooling and keep them inside the culture room and put on the UV light. After 20 minutes put off the UV light and start working in the culture room. Cut the fungal culture into two equal halves using a inoculation needle and transfer one half portion to a bag. Similarly, transfer another half portion of the culture to an another bag. Incubate the inoculated bags in a clean room under room temperature for 10 days for further use to prepare bed spawn. MUSHROOM BED PREPARATIONS The cultivation of oyster mushroom is usually carried out in transparent polythene covers. The size of the cover should be 60 x 30 cm, with a thickness of 80 gauges. Procedure Wash hands thoroughly with antiseptic lotion. Take the polythene cover and tie the bottom end with a thread and turn it inwards. Shade dry steam sterilized straw to get a uniform moisture level in all areas. Take out a well-grown bed spawn, squeeze thoroughly and divide into two halves. (Two beds are prepared from the single spawn bag) Fill the straw to a height of 3” in the bottom of polythene bag, take a handful of spawn and sprinkle over the straw layer , concentrating more on the edges.    Fill the second layer of the straw to a height of 5” and spawn it as above.  Repeat this process to get five straw layers with spawns.   Gently press the bed and tie it tightly with a thread. Put 6 ventilation holes randomly for ventilation as well as to remove excess moisture present inside the bed. Arrange the beds in side the thatched shed, (Spawn running room) following Rack system or hanging rope system. Maintain the temperature of 22-25° C and relative humidity of 85-90 % inside the shed. Observe the beds daily for contamination, if any. The contaminated beds should  be removed and destroyed. Similarly, observe regularly for the infestation of insect pests viz., flies, beetles, mites etc., If noticed, the pesticide like Malathion should be sprayed in side the shed @ 1 ml per litre of water. The fully spawn run beds can be shifted to cropping room for initiation of buttons. OYSTER MUSHROOM CULTIVATION             The fully spawn run beds should be transferred to cropping room in the thatches shed, where the diffused light and good ventilation are necessary for the button development. There are different methods to handle the spawn run bed to initiate button development. They are Open bed method, wherein the polythene cover is completely removed and allowed for cropping. Closed bed method, wherein the polythene cover is intact and buttons will come out through the holes made on the cover. Half cover open method, wherein the one half of the polythene cover is removed for cropping and second half after first harvest. Stripe method, wherein the polythene cover as longitudinal strips of 5-cm breadth at 4-5 places in the bed. Tear method, wherein the polythene cover is teared longitudinally at several places. Round opening method, wherein the round shaped openings of 5 cm diameter are made at random. However, among all the methods of opening of beds, complete removal of the polythene cover is found to give more yields than others. The steps followed in full opening of bed are described below Procedure:  Use a new blade and cut the polythene covers and remove fully. Allow the bed to dry for a day, as freshly opened beds contain more moisture. Spray water on the beds from second day of opening using an atomizer. Observe the beds regularly, if any bed  showing contamination should be removed. Two to three days after opening pinheads of mushroom button develop which will be ready for harvest with in another 4 days Harvest the entire bunch of mushroom gently in the early hours of morning. Remove the straw bits adheres to the mushroom and cut off the bottom portion of the stalk. Pack neatly in a polythene cover @ 200 g per bag and put a few ventilation holes. Keep them in an icebox and send to sales unit immediately. After harvest, scrap out the mushroom bed with a new comb to remove dried and rotten buds of mushroom. Spray the beds daily, based on the conditions of the beds two to three sprays may be needed.( Second harvest can be done 7-10 days after the first harvest) After second harvest, scrap out the outer layers as above and spray water regularly. (Third harvest can be had after a week or ten days). Dispose the beds after third harvest as it is uneconomical to keep the beds further. RESULT AND DISCUSSION: