Milky mushroom, otherwise known as summer mushroom, is
a long sized, white and attractive mushroom of India. This is a tropical
mushroom like paddy straw mushroom. Artificial cultivation started as early as
1976 in the state of West Bengal. Now, this mushroom has gained popularity in
the states of Karnatak, Tamilnadu, Kerala and Andhra Prodesh. The climatic
condition of these states including Odisha is suitable for milky mushroom
cultivation from March to October. However, in some states this has not been commercialized
yet because of the preference of paddy straw mushroom by the people. At present
efforts are on to popularize milky mushroom in India like paddy straw and
oyster mushroom.
Attributes:
·
The mushroom is bright white in colour and
attractive.
·
Different types of cellulosic wastes can be
used as basal substrate.
·
The cultivation procedure is simple and
easy
·
Productivity is higher – 80 to 100 %
·
Milky mushroom has good self life. Fruit
bodies can be stored for 3-4 days in ambient condition.
·
Fresh mushroom can be exported.
CLIMATIC REQUIREMENT
Temperature
:
Milky Mushroom can be grown in the temperature range of 250 - 400C.
However, for best yields, 250 - 350C is necessary. Hence,
this mushroom can be cultivated from the month of March to October in major
states of India. During summer months, it may be necessary to bring down the
temperature and to improve the relative humidity for obtaining higher yields.
Relative
humidity : Atmospheric relative humidity should be in the range
of 80 – 85 %. Under low humidity, young fruit bodies dry up or the upper
surface of the mushroom becomes rough.
Light
:
During fruiting, low light(200 lux) is necessary. However during the mycelium
growth period, light requirement is still minimal.
Ventilation
:
During fruiting stage, more oxygen is required and therefore, bags are kept in
a well-ventilated room.
MATERIAL REQUIREMENT
Substrate
:
Different types of cellulosic agricultural residues such as paddy straw, wheat straw, barley straw,
maize, jowar and bajra stalkm groundnut haulms, sugarcane bagasse, wheat bran
and cotton waste can be used as basal substrate. However, paddy straw is the best substrate for
cultivation of Milky Mushroom. About one kilogram of dry straw is necessary for
raising a single bag.
Mushroom
Spawn : Three weeks to one month old 100 grams of good quality
seeds (10 % of dry weight of straw) is necessary for raising a bag. The spawn
should be procured from a recognized spawn laboratory.
Organic
Supplement : For improving productivity one may use
pasteurized maize meal, wheat bran, paddy husk or boiled wheat grain at 100-150
gm per bag during spawning.
Polythene
Bag : Polythene tube of dimension 60 cm x 40 cm with 100 gauge thickness and open at both sides is
required for milky mushroom cultivation.
CULTIVATION PROCEDURE
Substrate
Processing : Good quality paddy straw is chopped to 4-5
cm size with chaff cutter. The chopped straw is soaked in clean and cold water
for six hours. However, the soaking period is varied with nature of substrate.
Excess water is drained from the straw and it is subjected to physical and
chemical means of pasteurization as in the case of oyster mushroom. Straw
should contain 50-55% moisture at
the end for giving better productivity.
Raising
of Bags: One end of the polythene tube is tied with rubber band
and the moistened and pasteurized substrate is put inside to a height of 7.5 cm. Substrate is then gently
pressed and one third each of spawn
and supplement (35 gm) spread at the periphery
close to polythene. Likewise, three
such layers are made and the bag is
closed at the upper end after pressing the substrate. 15 to 20 small holes (0.5 cm to
1.0 cm dia) should be made on all sides to facilitate gas exchange.
Instead of layer spawning, mixed spawning may also be followed where the
required quantity of spawn is mixed with the prepared substrate (soaked and
pasteurized straw) and incorporated into the bag. The bags are then incubated
in a dark room where a temperature of 25-350C
and a relative humidity of 80% are
maintained. It takes about 20 days
when substrate is fully colonized and bags are ready for casing. Bags are
shifted to cropping room for casing and cropping.
Casing
and after care : Casing means covering the top surface of
bags after spawn run is over, with pasteurized casing material in about 2-3 cm thickness. Casing provides
physical support, moisture and allows gases to escape from the substrate. Casing material(soil 50% + Compost 50%)
with pH adjusted to 7.8 to 7.9 with chalk
powder is pasteurized in autoclave at 15 psi for one hour or chemically
treated with 4 % formaldehyde
solution about a week in advance of casing. It is covered with polythene sheet
to avoid escape of chemical and turned at 2 days interval so that at the time
of casing, soil is free from formalin smell. Top of the bag is opened,
polythene is folded and casing material is uniformly spread in 2-3 cm
thickness.
Cropping
:
It takes about 10 days for the mycelium to reach the top of the casing layer
when fresh air is introduced along with appropriate temperature and humidity.
The changes thus made in the environment, result in the initiation of fruit
bodies within 3-5 days which may mature in about a week.
Mushroom
of 7-10 cm diameter are harvested by
twisting, cleaned and packed in
perforated polythene/polypropylene bags for marketing. In a 40 days duration crop, around 800-1000
g of mushroom may be harvested per bag. Hence, the biological efficiency of
milk mushroom is 80-100%.
Average
Yield per bag : 1 Kg
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