24-09-2013, 03:35 PM
MUSHROOM GROWING IN INDIA
MUSHROOM GROWING .pdf (Size: 1.44 MB / Downloads: 55)
The Potential of the Mushroom Industry in India
India is not a major producer of any of the mushroom varieties, but it
does cultivate mushrooms and has great potential as an important
producer in the future. From a production standpoint, the white button
mushroom has the highest growth rate and potential for production.
However, the cultivation of oyster mushrooms has been more common
since the end of the last century, when the infrastructure of oyster
mushroom growing was much improved and therefore capital
requirements went way down in comparison with the requirements for
white button mushroom cultivation.
India has large number of agro-climatic regions that offer congenial
climatic conditions for mushroom cultivation. India also has a good
combination of both the technical and non-technical manpower needed to
operate and manage the mushroom growing operations. The supply and
demand gap in the world trade of mushrooms and the shrinkage of
production in countries like Taiwan and South Korea due to high labor
costs would result in better market prices for Indian mushroom producers.
The costs of building materials and other inputs related to construction
costs are much lower in India than in many other countries. This keeps the
investment cost per unit weight of mushroom produced more advantageous
in India.
Benefits of Oyster Mushroom Growing
There are many remarkable ecological advantages in the cultivation of edible fungi. One major advantage is the
efficient re-integration of agricultural residues such as horse and chicken manure, cereal straw, bagasse and others.
The spent mushroom substrate can then be used either as animal feed or as compost for application in farm fields.
The cost of oyster mushroom cultivation varies according to regions and the specific type of cultivation, but
generally, the growing of oyster mushrooms is less expensive than that of other cash crops. The major reason for
this is it requires little space and inexpensive raw materials. Oyster mushroom cultivation is economically efficient
for the farmers of other crops, who do not have to buy the raw materials for substrate and can use low cost
structures for mushroom cultivation on seasonal basis. Table 1 would provide a view on the cost-benefit
relationships of oyster mushroom cultivation in India.
Spawn preparation
10kg of wheat grains are boiled for 15 minutes in 15L of water and then allowed to soak for another 15 minutes
without heating. The excess water is drained off and the grains are cooled in sieves. The grains should be turned
several times with a spoon for quick cooling. The cooled grains are mixed with the gypsum (CaSO4ᆞ2H2O) and
30g of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The gypsum prevents the grains from sticking together and the calcium
carbonate is necessary to correct the pH. The prepared grains are filled into half-liter milk bottles or polypropylene
bags (150-200g per bottle or bag) and autoclaved for 2 hours at 121°C. After sterilization, the material should have
a pH value of 7. The bottles are inoculated with grains or bits of agar medium colonized with mycelium, and then
incubated at 22-24°C in a dark place. The mycelium completely spreads through the grains in about 2 weeks.
For Better Mushroom Industry in India
Most growers in India are self-employed and operating small-scale farms. They have different backgrounds with
low or no knowledge of running small biological enterprises. Many short-sighted and non-committed growers are
getting out of mushroom growing enterprises due to small setbacks they encounter before they accumulate enough
experience in mushroom cultivation management. This situation creates fluctuations in the total number of oyster
mushrooms growing units and causes an inconsistent supply-demand curve in the marketplace. This in turn causes
the market price for oyster mushroom producing growers to fluctuate. As such, the market of oyster mushroom is
highly localized with individual traders having great control on prices. The retail price of fresh oyster mushroom
varies in India from INR*30-120 (USD0.66-2.65) per kg.