STM Article Repository

Aim: The efficient mushroom production involves many factors of which spawn production, culture
methods and substrate selection are of prime importance. The research has, therefore, been carried
out to standardize these aspects in present communication, for production of Pleurotus florida Strain-
P1.
Materials and Methods: Various cereals (maize, oat, barley) and millets (Italian millets, Little millet,
Pearl millet) were assessed against wheat grain spawn for enhancing yield and biological efficiency of
mushroom. Most suitable wheat straw component among fine pieces of leaves and leaf sheath (0.2
cm), coarse pieces of leaves and leaf sheath (0.4 cm), small (1.0 cm) and large pieces of the stem
(1.7 cm) were also evaluated for the manifestations above. Various culture methods viz., bag, column,
wall and tray culture and few substrate mixtures (corncob + wheat straw, mango sawdust + wheat
straw and rice husk + wheat straw) have also been taken to increase yield performance of mushroom.
Results: The result showed that barley and oat grains produced good quality spawn in terms of quick
mycelial running on the grain surface (14 days each). These spawn produced acceleration of spawn
running and increased yield, as compared to other types of spawn. When different components of
wheat straw were evaluated for the yield performance of mushroom, the course pieces of the stem
(1.0 cm) proved the most appropriate component in relation to very low/zero contamination along with
highest yield (819 gm) and biological efficiency (163.8%). In contrast, wheat straw and corn cob were
recognized as the best substrate combination with highest yield (707 gm) and biological efficiency
(141.4%) of mushrooms. Among different culture techniques used, only the column method gave
significant yield (930 gm) and biological efficiency (186%) with appropriate mushrooms sizes from
packaging point of view.
Conclusion: The results obtained during the study revealed that by adopting the composite
approach, the growers enhance mushroom production in manyfolds. The mushroom is cultivated by
following column method. The wheat straw devoid from pieces of leaf & leaf sheath should be utilized
as a substrate with corncob combination. It should be inoculated with oat/barley spawn to achieve
higher yield.