This document discusses mushroom cultivation techniques. It covers the background and economic potential of mushroom cultivation in India. It then describes the three step process of cultivating the most popular white button mushroom: 1) producing spawn, 2) preparing compost, and 3) cropping. It also discusses cultivation techniques for other mushrooms species grown in India like oyster mushroom, paddy straw mushroom, and milky mushroom. It concludes by emphasizing the need for more training, compost production units, and exploitation of medicinal mushrooms in India.

1. Mushroom Cultivation
By
Hem Chander
Assistant Professor (Botany)
Career Point University Hamirpur (HP) 176041
hemchander78@gmail.com

2. Introduction
“WITHOUT LEAVES, WITHOUT BUDS, WITHOUT
FLOWERS, YET, THEY FORM FRUIT; AS A FOOD, AS
A TONIC, AS A MEDICINE, THE ENTIRE CREATION
IS PRECIOUS”
(Chang and Miles,1989)
(Chang and Miles,1989)

3. BACKGROUND
 Mushroom cultivation- highly lucrative agro- industry
 Ranks first with the grosser among all the agricultural
and horticultural commodities
 World production more than 10 million tons with
growth rate of about 7 per cent
 Present Indian production more than 1,40,000 tons, with
 Present Indian production more than 1,40,000 tons, with
20-25% growth rate.
 Very low per capita consumption (25 –30 gm) in India as
compared to very high consumption (2.5-3.5kg) in
developed countries.
 Mushroom production is a labour intensive and low
labour cost is the biggest advantage India enjoys .

6. White Button Mushroom
 White button mushroom is most popular and
commercialized
 Most of the farmers(about 70%) take two crops from
October to March under seasonal growing conditions
 Few enterprising growers take 3-4 crops under
Few enterprising growers take 3-4 crops under
controlled conditions.
 Some progressive growers have achieved very high yield
of 23-25 kg per 100 kg of the compost and earned profit
between Rs. 25000 - 30000 per 100 bags
 Sudden spurt in cultivation of white button mushroom

7. Three steps in cultivation of white
button mushroom
 Spawn
 Compost
 Cropping

9. Pure culture or mother culture

10. Incubation of master spawn

11. Mycelial growth

12. Commercial spawn

13. Compost
 Long Method
 Short Method
 Bunker Method
 Indoor Composting
Natural Compost
 Natural Compost
 Synthetic Compost

14. Compost yard

15. Wetting

16. Turning

17. Wetting of compost

18. Stacking

19. Addition of Gypsum

20. Compost ready for filling

21. Hopper to filling line

22. Filling line to tunnel

23. A tunnel used for Phase-II

24. Compost Pasteurization chamber

25. Ready to spawn compost

26. Spawning of compost

27. Compost filling after spawning

30. Spawn run

31. Sieving & Cleaning of soil

32. Ready casing soil

33. Spawn run

34. Casing of spawned bags

35. Pinning

36. Developing Crop

37. Crop ready for harvesting

38. Harvesting of mushrooms

39. Washing of Harvested mushrooms

40. Oyster mushroom
 Mainly cultivated in the months of March - May and
September –October
 Becoming popular due to simple cultivation technique
and availability of wide range of substrates and strains
 Very popular among the women farmers particularly in
the areas where compost is not available
 Cultivation of oyster mushroom is very suitable tool for
economic and social empowerment of rural women.
 A new low temperature loving strain of oyster
mushroom available to the growers.Oyster mushroom is
now being cultivated by the farmers during winter
months.
 Cultivation of oyster mushroom is poised to be adopted
as a family enterprise by the people of the area.

41. Oyster mushroom cultivation
 HotWaterTreatment
 Chemical SterilizationTechnique
 Bulk Pasteurisation
 Choice of Raw Materials
 Choice of Species with varied colour, temp requirement, etc.
 Choice of Species with varied colour, temp requirement, etc.

42. P. ostreatus

43. Paddy Straw Mushroom (Volvariella
volvacia)
 Paddy straw mushroom is the most popular tropical
mushroom, widely grown in East Asian countries. It
is popular due to its good taste and flavor. In India
it is grown in Orissa.

44. Milky Mushroom
 Milky mushroom (Calocybe indica) is a new species for the
mushroom growers.
 Suitable for cultivation in high temperature and high
humidity areas
 Grows well at a temperature range of 25-35°C and relative
humidity more than 80%.
 Gaining popularity because of white robust fruit bodies, high
 Gaining popularity because of white robust fruit bodies, high
protein content, long shelf life and unique taste
 Spawn of this mushroom being made available to the farmers
of lower areas of the state
 Cultivation is picking up particularly with some progressive
and innovative growers who have developed lot of
fascination for this mushroom
 Scope for expanding milky mushroom cultivation in the
lower areas of the state.

46. Conclusions
 Developing countries have huge production potential and valuable
world market
 Intensive training programme should be taken up for educating the
farmers regarding importance and cultivation of mushrooms.
 Very good source of supplementing the income of the family.
 Mushroom cultivation is picking up fast
 Required quantity of compost not available to growers
 Required quantity of compost not available to growers
 More Compost Production Units need to be established
 Emphasis on cultivation of medicinal mushrooms for exploitations
as NUTRITIONAL and DIETARY supplements
 Future exploitation of wild mushrooms through domestication of
important mushrooms
 Developing specialty products for a wide range of health concerns

47. ……. Mushrooms can serve as food,
as tonic, and as medicine. A regular
intake of mushrooms can make you
healthier, fitter, and happier. They
can make you live longer, and
can make you live longer, and
always look younger.….