Oyster Mushroom Growing

In the 21^st century world is gradually going to face food crisis. Day by day, we are reducing cultivable land due to expansion of residential area. In this situation mushroom can be a good food source. We can produce mushroom without utilizing cultivable land and can be home based small farming by investing small amount of capital. Mushroom is the only vegetable that can be commercially cultivate in the home based farming. To produce edible mushroom no need to use high technology but can be produce with waste materials like paddy straw, wheat straw, tree sawdust, cottonseed hulls, sugar cane bagasse, wild grasses and various categories of environment friendly refuse  wastes. Oyster mushroom cultivation is easiest then others and nutrient value is very high.

Nutrient Value of Mushroom: (Per 100 gm dried mushroom)

The moisture contents of mushroom 70 to 95 %. This variation depends on harvesting time, environment and other factors. After properly drying average dry matter can be 12-15%.     

Name of Mushroom	Carbohydrate (gm)	Fiber (gm)	Protein (gm)	Fat (gm)	Ash (gm)	Energy (kcel)
Agaricus bisporus	46.17	20.90	33.48	3.10	5.70	499
Pleurotus sajor-caju	63.40	48.60	19.23	2.70	6.32	412
Lentinula edodes	47.60	28.80	32.93	3.73	5.20	387
Pleurotus ostreatus	57.60	8.70	30.40	2.20	9.80	265
Vovarella volvaceae	54.80	5.50	37.50	2.60	1.10	305
Calocybe indica	64.26	3.40	17.69	4.10	7.43	391
Flammulina velutips	73.10	3.70	17.60	1.90	7.40	378
Auricularia auricula	82.80	19.80	4.20	8.30	4.70	351

Source: Stamets-2005, FAO-1972, Doshi and Sharma-1995, Crison and Sand- 1978.

Protein fat and mineral salt in 100 gm dried foods.

Name of Food	Protein (gm)	Fat (gm)	Mineral Salt (gm)
Milk	28	32	4
Egg	42	41	3
Meat	40	40	3
Mushroom	35	4	10

 

Medicinal Value of mushroom:

Mushroom recognized as a medicinal vegetable in Japan, China, Korea and many other countries.  They uses mushroom as a treatment for various type of diseases. Research finds that, mushrooms have potential anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antihyperglycemic, hepatoprotective and cardioprotective properties.   

Spawn Production of Oyster Mushroom:

Spawn making and growing of mushroom should be separate business. Spawn making required to maintain more bio-security then mushroom cultivation. There are two ways to produce of spawn, one of that is tissue cultures and another is spore cultures. I will discuss on that in another post, I would like to discuss just growing management of oyster mushroom in this post.

Required Environment: 

 Temperature:

Ambient air temperature has to fit from 20⁰ to 30⁰ C in the growing room of oyster mushroom. If the temperature is too high or low then it will bad affect in production.  

Humidity:  

Humidity should maintained 70-80% to minimize drying of the surface. During the cropping period very important to control humidity, by spray water specific interval.   

Light:

Different light (color and intensity) suitable for cultivate in different strains of mushroom. In the culture room of oyster mushroom minimum artificial light required, that is 80-210 lux. In the other hand, milky white mushroom required 1600 lux and to cultivate button mushroom no need artificial light. Light ensure to germinate mushroom in the growing room.  

 Oxygen Availability:

In the period of growing fruiting body of mushroom, they need a lot of food. Oxygen helps to grow food with enzymes that takes mycelium.   

Remove Carbon dioxide:

Mushroom use oxygen to produce food and emits carbon dioxide in the growing stage. Emitted carbon dioxide create a layer surrounding area of begs that is the cause of oxygen deficiency. To solve this problem mushroom growing room should crossed ventilated or required to use exhaust fan.      

   

Oyster Mushroom in 500 gm Small Bags:  

Collect best quality spawn from reliable sources after preparing the growing room. Bags filled with whitish mycelium (threadlike filaments) that indicates of best quality. If mycelium looks like color yellowish, reddish or blackish that indication of bad quality spawn. Transport spawn bags very carefully without direct sunlight and rain fall. Transporting vehicle and boxes should be sufficient facilities for air circulation.  Mycelium filled small bags immediately placed on the culture room shelves. Bag to bag distance should be two inchs. 

Cut partially away the plastic top of the bags before placing on shelves. Surrounding area of the growing house should be very clean. Mushroom will be ready harvesting in five to seven days. After ten to fifteen days interval it will be once again prepared for second harvest. Stop water spraying before 12 to 15 hours from harvesting time. From 500 gm bags mushroom can be collect 250 to 300 gm.

Oyster Mushroom in 2 kg straw Bags:

Very famous and cost effective to using paddy or wheat straw as a substrate in the winter, or cool weather countries. You have to collect dry, fresh and disease free straw and cut size in 1.5 to 2 inch. Fill water 65% in a drum and heat temperature up to 60⁰ C. Submerge straw in the drum after filling in a cloth or net bag then stop heating and close the cover of drum. Stay for an hour to kill microorganisms in the straw, remove straw bag from the drum, and then let it cool on a clean plastic sheet or inside floor. When substrate temperature cooled down to 30⁰ C then bring it to sun light and prepare to spawning and filling bags. Use plastic bag size in 12 inch × 24 inch for 2 kg substrate. Mix 5 % mother spawn and fill bags with straw 2 kg per begs. Spawn can also use as a layer topped of the substrate filled bags. Now close the substrate bags with rubber band, cotton wool plug and paper cover.

To grow mycelium shift bags in a dark room at temperature 22⁰ C to 28⁰ C for 15 to 20 days. When become whitish with mycelium placed in growing room. It can place in shelves or hang with roof. Cut partially 5 to 6 places of per substrate bags size in 1 inch. After five to seven days mushroom will be ready for harvest. Mushroom can produce 3 to 4 kg from 2 kg bag.  

Diseases and Pasts:

If substrate poorly sterilized then bacterial and fungal dieses can grow in the growing period. Infected mushrooms become discolored and reduced shelf life, include reduced yield. To overcome the problem use properly sterilized substrate, ensure sufficient air movement, control over heating of substrate (above 35⁰ C), and control excessive moisture content.  

Flies: 

Dirty and unclean grower room can grow and damage mushroom by flies. Old bags also cause of flies. Flies lay eggs on the mycelium and hatched larvae can spoil the crop. Flies are cause of carrier of another disease.

Mites:

Mites can attack in the growing mushroom. They can damage by absorbing the extraction of mushroom. To protect mushroom from mite’s substrate bags should be sufficient protected against insects. Temperature controlling is another way to control mites.

Mushroom farmers should be very careful against attack from rats, ants and cockroaches.

Tomato Cultivation Management

Worldwide production position of tomato is second highest. However, origin of tomato from Peru and Mexico now it becomes very famous worldwide because of nutrient and multipurpose utilization as a good food source.  It consist high quality nutrient that is very much important for good health.  Daily consumption of tomato for a person can be decreased 60 percent risk of breast, head and neck cancer.

Nutrient:

According to USDA nutrient database consists nutrient in per 100 gm red raw tomato as below.

Energy	18 kcal
Carbohydrates	3.9 g
Sugars	2.6 g
Dietary fiber	1.2 g
Fat	0.2 g
Protein	0.9 g
Vitamin A	42 μ g
Vitamin C	14 mg
Vitamin E	0.54 mg
Potassium	237 mg

In a developed country produced tomato per hector nearer to 100 metric tons in a year but developing countries produced only 20-30 metric tons. In this stage, we have opportunity to increase productivity of tomato worldwide and we should do it.

Climate:

Tomato plants cannot tolerate frost and high humidity. As a worm season crop it required a certain stage climate. In the Seed germination, vegetative growth, fruit set and color development stage of tomato cultivation climatic requirement is different. High rainfall is not suitable for any stage. Optimum level of temperature for tomato cultivation is as below.

Stage	Temperature ⁰F	Temperature ⁰C
Germination (Soil)	68	20
Vegetative growth (Air)	77-95	25-35
Fruit set and development	100	38

Soil:    

Organic matter is very important in the soil for tomato cultivation. Then the soil can hold required water during the fruiting season. Preferable pH rang in soil is 5.5 to 6.8. Clay loam soil is more productive then the sandy loam soil. Soil should be well drained and irrigation facility.

Seed treatment and sowing:

Before planting seeds need to treated with hot water to destroy internal and surface infections. In cheesecloth beg fill seeds and immerse in hot water at 52⁰ C for 30 minutes. Then wash in normal water and spread out to dry. Treated seeds have to sow within 3 days.  Per hector requirement of tomato seed nearer to 500 gm, required soil moisture 18-25 % and oxygen content 10% in soil for good germination.  Sow the seeds at the depth of 0.5- 1.0 cm under the fine sand and then cover the bed with straw. After 4-7 days when emerge the plant remove the straw.

Weed control:

In a small tomato cultivation farm weed can be control with hand weeding. However, farm size is very large then this traditional method will not be effective. Removing the weed increase significantly the production. Pre emergence applications of herbicides found very effective to more production then hand weeding. Plastic mulching is also very effective to control weeds.

Fertilization:

Fertilizer requirement is not same in different land area according to present soil condition. In the selected land, it should be consider its previous record of cultivation, applied chemical fertilizer and so many things before applying additional chemical fertilizer.  After testing the sample of specific soil in the laboratory, required amount of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus are can be applied. Nitrogen increase quality, size and test of tomato. Potassium required for growth. Before planting at the time of land prepare 40-50 metric tons manure required to apply. Modern world encourage using environment friendly organic fertilizer.   

Irrigation:

In the growing stage tomato plants required to irrigation, in this stage soil need to hold sufficient moisture. Water should be contamination free with animal or human feces. General rule of irrigation in the tomato field 25 mm to 30 mm per week. It can be from rainfall or supplemental irrigation. First irrigation required at tillage about 7 days before transplanting and second immediately at transplanting. In the summer irrigation required according demand to control of wet soil in the tomato field at the intervals of 5 to 10 days.   

Insects:

       Tomato fruit borer:

The fruit borer attacks in tomato all stage of development. They spoiled by borrowing tomato. To control this insect attacks fruits should be destroy, and authorized spray can be use after every 7 to 10 days. Stop spray before 14 days of harvesting.    

       Aphids:

Aphids are winged or wingless insects and look like green or gray. Mainly they attack in the leaf of tomato plants. Aphids transmit virus dieses in tomato.

      Leaf miner:

Leaf miner is short generation insect. In the warm eggs to eggs time only two weeks, but they reproduce all year around. Its larva feed inner tissue of leaf.

       Mealy bug:

Matured mealy bug look like white and new borne is yellow.

Any insecticide should apply with advice specialist and government authorized consultant.      

       White fly:

White fly color appears actually yellow. They damage indirectly by transmitting leaf curl virus disease in tomato plants.

To control white fly can be spray insecticide.

Disease:

    Damping off:

Damping off is fungal dieses in tomato plant. It occur causing decay seeds or seedling. After emerge seedling eventually wilt and fall. Stem becomes soft and roots become affected.

To control this disease use best quality seeds, avoid overcrowding in the seed bad. Control optimum moisture in the seed bad. Sterilize the soil with fungicide before sowing.

     Wilt:

Wilt disease grow from bacteria or some time from fungus. Wilt disease protect plant to absorb water from soil as a result plants become wilt. You can easily distinguish cause of wilt bacterial or fungal. Cut a wilt infected stem and put in water for 3-5 minutes, if diseased caused by bacteria then white milky slime flow from infected stem to water. If they infected by fungus then cutting inside of stem shown brown color.

To control wilt disease use resistant varieties seed. Select land with well drainage system. Remove infected plants and burn it. Before planting the soil need to treated with fumigation.

   Tomato Mosaic:

Tomato mosaic is a viral disease. It can be attack any growing stage in tomato plants. One of the   symptoms is mottled areas on the leaves. In the early stage infected plants growth become stunt and yellowish leaves may be curled. Infected fruits become whitish spotted. Some of insects are carrier of mosaic virus. It also transmitted by workers or machineries.

     Treating seeds with dry at 78⁰ C for 2 days tomato mosaic disease can be control. Before    handling   the tomato plants wash hands with soap.               

 Late blight:

      The symptom of the late blight disease are banding down of the leaf, lesions on the leaves and stems. Any growing stage can be attack this disease. Germ of this disease can be scattered by storm from long distance.To control late blight use fungicide spray regularly.    

       Early blight:

The symptom of early blight disease appears brownish, black lesions on the older leaves. Yellow area surrounds the spot. The fruits also become infected and infected fruits fall down in early stage.

Germ of this disease can be scattered by infected seeds, soil and weeds. Wind, water and insects also can be spread spore of this fungal disease.

        To control use disease free seeds. Destroy all of plants after harvest. Use authorized fungicide spray regularly. 

       Root knot:

The symptom of root knot is galls in tomato roots, cause of worm.  Galls can be size from pinhead to 3 cm in diameter. Worms lived in depth of 60 cm of soil; they enter inside the roots and absorb juice from roots. Above ground symptoms are stunning, wilting and off colored appearance of plants.

To control root knot dry the land very well. Rotate with non-host crop. Use steam or chemical treatment in soil.

      Leaf curl:

Symptom of this disease is leafs are reduce in size, abnormal shape, downward curving and upward curving. Whiteflies are carrier of virus that cause of leaf curl in tomato plants.

To control the disease remove and destroy the infected plant regularly. Avoid cultivation host crop of white fly nearer to tomato plant.

Harvesting:   

Harvesting tomato depends on species, duration of culture, local market or purpose of export. For export and long distance market picked at the green stage. If market is local or nearer then can picked pink or full red color. Using chemical for artificial color is very much harmful for human health.