22/07/2022
For today's Horticulture department Ravangla features, we want to shine light on the success story of our small project " possibility of small scale production facility for Pleurotus ostreatus under the agro-climatic conditions of Ravangla and surrounding areas " a project in collaboration with Agriculture department and ATMA Namchi district.
Small scale mushroom production represents an opportunity for farmers interested in an additional enterprise and is a special option for farmers without much land. Mushroom production can play an important role in managing farm organic wastes thereby also reducing the cost of production of mushroom.
Oyster mushroom can grow at a moderate temperature ranging from 20 -30° C and relative humidity of 55-70%. It can be cultivated in summer months by providing extra humidity required for its growth in hilly areas above 1000m.
The main inputs required for mushroom production are substrate and spawn.In order to determine whether the mushroom business is profitable or not cost analysis of mushroom production was carried out in cost benefit analysis. The average cost of spawn(seed) per bag was Rs. 50 and the average cost of substrate (rice straw) required for one bag was Rs.10. Yield data per bag ranges from 1- 1.5 kg in 2 -3 harvestings.The total expenditure per bag was around Rs. 80.The net returns per kilogram mushroom came around Rs.120.
For the cultivation of mushroom, it is necessary to understand its cultivation practices, its favorable environment such as room temperature, relative humidity and appropriate aeration.As growing process of mushroom can be affected by the diseases and after studying some research papers it was found that mushroom tend to get infected by bacterial and fungal diseases which often cause a great loss at harvesting.
These losses most commonly occurs due to infavorable temperatures, relative humidity and inappropriate aeration .Mushroom cultivation entirely depends on the environment where it is cultivated and the room needs to be in proper sterilized condition in order to avoid contamination.
