How you can grow and earn more from mushrooms

What you need to know:

The most important thing in mushroom farming in Uganda is high quality spawn. A good spawn will make the venture profitable because for each kilogramme of mushrooms, a farmer earns between Shs7,000 and Shs8,000. Vegetarians, Indian restaurants, supermarkets and ordinary restaurants are potential markets.

Mushroom cultivation can directly improve livelihoods through economic, nutritional and medicinal contributions.

However, it is essential to note that some mushrooms are poisonous and may even be lethal, thus the need for extra caution in identifying those species that can be consumed as food.

Nutritional value

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.

The consumption of mushrooms can make a valuable addition to the often unbalanced diets of people in developing countries.

Fresh mushrooms have a high water content, around 90 percent, so drying them is an effective way to both prolong their shelf-life and preserve their flavour and nutrients. 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.

Medicinal value

Recently, there has been a spectacular growth in and commercial activity associated with, dietary supplements, functional foods and other products that are ‘more than just food’. Medicinal fungi have routinely been used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Expert experience

Debora Wendiro an agricultural industrial researcher and chemist who is breeding Ugandan traditional mushrooms in her home states that the medicinal properties of mushrooms depend on several bioactive compounds and their bioactivity depends on how mushrooms are prepared and eaten.

The varieties she is growing include Shiitake also known as Letina Edodes which she says is tasty and if handled well has potential to bring in reasonable income.

Others are Volvopluteus gloiocephalus, commonly known as the big sheath mushroom.

Shiitake are said to have anti-tumour and antiviral properties and remove serum cholesterol from the blood stream.

Other species such as Pleurotus (oyster), Auricularia, Flammulina (enokitake), Termella and Grifola all have varying degrees of immune system boosting, anti-tumour, microbial and viral properties, blood pressure regulating and other therapeutic effects.

Essentials

Fungi come in many shapes, sizes and colours and macro fungi is a general category used for species that have a visible structure that produces spores, which are generically referred to as fruiting bodies.

Unlike the leaves of green plants, which contain chlorophyll to absorb light energy for photosynthesis the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide and water into organic chemicals, mushrooms rely on other plant material  for their food.

Lifecycle 

The key life cycle stages for fungi include vegetative growth of the mycelium in the substrate.

As spores released from the gills germinate and develop they form hyphae, which are the main mode of vegetative growth in fungi.

Collectively, these are referred to as mycelium and these feed, grow and ultimately produce mushrooms. Mycelium appears as microscopic threads similar in appearance to the mould that sometimes grows on bread.

The appearance of fruiting bodies or mushroom varies according to the species, but all have a vertical stalk and a head.

Production of spores by the mushroom fruit bodies and the underside of the cap has gills or pores.

The mushroom produces several million spores in its life, and this life cycle is repeated each time the spores germinate to form the mycelium.

Growing stage

The basic concept is to start with some mushroom spores, which grow into mycelium and expand into a mass sufficient in volume and stored up energy to support the final phase of the mushroom reproductive cycle, which is the formation of fruiting bodies and this takes three months.

The farmer is expected to identify a room with required temperature, choose the growing medium and storing the ingredients in a clean place, pasteurise and sterilise the medium and bags. Seeding the beds with spawn spores from mature mushrooms grown on sterile media maintaining optimal temperature, moisture, hygiene and other conditions for mycelium growth and fruiting is important.  Farmers are expected to put the inoculated substrate into bags, trays and transferred to an enclosed and darkened room or building to incubate for a period of up to 12 weeks, depending on the variety of mushroom.

If space is limited, plastic bags can be suspended in darkened rooms and humidity levels are important for the mycelium to colonise.

Spawning

This is the actual process of planting the mushrooms. The spawn is spread on the surface of the compost, but it slightly penetrates the surface. You can do this by making a small hole using your finger and planting the spawn. The temperature of the room should be maintained at around 25 degrees Celsius. A humidifier should be used to make the room humid and if the gadget is not available, water can be manually sprayed on the walls and floor of the room.

Casing

Once the spawn has attached to the planting medium and looks like a white substance, soil is added to the surface of the compost. A layer of soil is needed and forest soil is preferred. However, the soil has to be treated to rid insects. Formalin solution can be used to sterilise the soil before casing is done.

Pests

The common mushrooms pests are flies, mites and nematodes. Other pests such as mice, spring tails, thrips, beetles and sowbugs are also common and they destroy the spores.

Diseases

The diseases can be fungal and they include Dactylium diseases with symptoms portraying webbed, cottony mycelial growth on surface of the mushrooms. Verticillium spot Verticillium fungicola caused by small spotting on mushrooms leads to deformation of the plant.

The basic principle in protecting the mushroom crop from pests and diseases is prevention, largely achieved through good hygiene.

As mushrooms are grown mostly in an enclosed environment, the risk of pests and diseases spreading rapidly within the crop is high, so it is important to monitor the crop regularly.

Harvesting

Mushroom is harvested several times throughout its lifetime. What are harvested are called flushes. The first flush comes 15-20 days after soil casing and 35-40 days after spawning. Mushrooms should be harvested at the right size, otherwise they will become too big and rapture. Each bag should produce at least a kilogramme throughout its lifetime. The harvests can go up to the fifth flush. It takes approximately 15 weeks from composting to end of harvesting. A mushroom house should not be close to a cattle shed because the flies from the cattle can contaminate the mushrooms. One of the biggest challenges in mushroom farming is getting quality spawn.

Nutrients

Mushrooms contain protein content of 3-7 percent when fresh and 25-40 percent when dry. It further contains essential amino acids, amides and lysine. It is low in sodium, thus, ideal for people with heart and kidney ailments, and has iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and folic acid.