Importance of mushroom cultivation A Presentation By Mr Allah Dad khan Former Director General Agriculture Extension KPK Province and Visiting Professor the University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

3.  Mushrooms, though classified as vegetables
in the food world, are not technically plants.
They belong to the fungi kingdom and
although they are not vegetables, mushrooms
provide several important nutrients.

9.  Edible mushrooms once called the “food of
the gods” and still treated as a garnish or
delicacy can be taken regularly as part of the
human diet or be treated as healthy food or
as functional food. The extractable products
from medicinal mushrooms, designed to
supplement the human diet not as regular
food, but as the enhancement of health and
fitness, can be classified into the category of
dietary supplements/mushroom
nutriceuticals

10.  i) Cap (pileus)- Colour
(white, grey, yellow) and
shape (umbrella, kidney,
cap) depend on species
 ii) Stype (stem)- Stype is
stem like structure that
supports the pileus and
transports nutrients from
the substrate to other
parts of mushroom.
 iii) Gills -tissues that
produce spores.
 iv) Mycelia- absorbs
nutrients from substrate

15.  Mushroom cultivation can directly improve
livelihoods through economic, nutritional and
medicinal contributions.
 Indirectly, mushroom cultivation also
provides opportunities for improving the
sustainability of small farming systems
through the recycling of organic matter,
which can be used as a growing substrate,
and then returned to the land as fertilizer


16.  Mushroom cultivation can help reduce
vulnerability to poverty and strengthens
livelihoods through the generation of a fast
yielding and nutritious source of food and a
reliable source of income.
 Small-scale growing does not include any
significant capital investment: mushroom
substrate can be prepared from any clean
agricultural waste material, and mushrooms
can be produced in temporary clean shelters.

17.  Mushroom cultivation activities can play an
important role in supporting the local economy
by contributing to subsistence food security,
nutrition, and medicine; generating additional
employment and income through local, regional
and national trade; and offering opportunities for
processing enterprises
 Since it does not require access to land,
mushroom cultivation is a viable and attractive
activity for both rural farmers and peri-urban
dwellers.
 They can be cultivated on a part-time basis, and
require little maintenance

18.  Mushrooms both add flavour to bland staple
foods and are a valuable food in their own
right: they are often considered to provide a
fair substitute for meat, with at least a
comparable nutritional value to many
vegetables

22.  Mushrooms are a good source of vitamin B, C
and D, including niacin, riboflavin, thiamine,
and folate, and various minerals including
potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium,
iron and copper. They provide carbohydrates,
but are low in fat and fibre, and contain no
starch

23.  Furthermore, edible mushrooms are an
excellent source of high quality protein
(reportedly between 19 percent and 35
percent), and white button mushrooms
contain more protein than kidney beans. In
addition to all the essential amino acids,
some mushrooms have medicinal benefits of
certain polysaccharides, which are known to
boost the immune system

25.  Medicinal fungi have routinely been used in
traditional Chinese medicine. Today, an
estimated six percent of edible mushrooms
are known to have medicinal properties and
can be found in health tonics, tinctures, teas,
soups and herbal formulas. Lentinula edodes
(shiitake) and Volvariella volvacea (Chinese or
straw mushroom) are edible fungi with
medicinal properties widely diffused and
cultivated.

26.  Shiitake are said to have antitumour and
antiviral properties and remove serum
cholesterol from the blood stream. Other
species, such as Pleurotus (oyster),
Auricularia (mu-er), Flammulina (enokitake),
Termella (yin-er) and Grifola (maitake), all
have varying degrees of immune system
boosting, lipidlowering, anti-tumour,
microbial and viral properties, blood pressure
regulating, and other therapeutic

27.  Through the provision of income and improved
nutrition, successful cultivation and trade in
mushrooms can strengthen livelihood assets, which
can not only reduce vulnerability to shocks, but
enhance an individual’s and a community’s capacity
to act upon other economic opportunities.
 Through the provision of income and improved
nutrition, successful cultivation and trade in
mushrooms can strengthen livelihood assets, which
can not only reduce vulnerability to shocks, but
enhance an individual’s and a community’s capacity
to act upon other economic opportunities.
 Consumption of mushrooms slows down the spread
and effect of cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS (by
boosting immune system).

28. S.N
o
Type Scientific Name
1 Button Mushroom Agaricus bisporus
2 Moral Mushroom Morchella esculenta
3 Wild Mushroom
4 Oyster Mushroom Pleaurotus ostreatus
5 Porcini Mushrooms
6 Shitake Mushroom Lentinula edodes
7 Portobello Mushrooms
8 Ear Mushroom Auricularia auricula
9 Ganoderma Ganoderma lucidum
10. Paddy Straw/Chinese Vulvariella volvaceae
11. Truffles Tuber melanosporum

51.  Use of idle structures,
 Involvement of small initial capital,
 Possible production all the year round
 Use of Agricultural waste as substrate-
mostly waste materials from farms,
plantations or factories.
 Is a Biodegrader hence environmental con-
server.

52.  There is an old Chinese saying which states
that “MEDICINES AND FOODS HAVE A
COMMON ORIGIN”. Mushrooms constitute a
most rapidly growing new food category
which the current health-oriented public is
increasingly enjoying.