Effect of Substrate Types (Saw Dust, Corn Cob) Associated with Insect Activities on the White Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) Yield in Musang-Bamenda III (North West Region-Cameroon)

Abstract

Oyster mushroom is an edible mushroom which has been identified as an excellent food source to alleviate malnutrition worldwide. To evaluate the effects of different substrate types (saw dust and corn cob) associated with insect activities on the yield of white oyster mushroom, experiments were carried out in exposed house, from the 26th of May to the 31st of August 2022 in Musang. Oyster mushroom was cultivated on different substrates made of six treatments: saw dust (T1, T11), Corn cobs (T2, T22) and a mixture of both (T3, T33), all supplemented with 1% CaCO3. The treatments were tied in black polythene bags each. The experiment was laid in a random design. The different parameters studied show that the highest degree of colonization and the lowest time from primordial initiation to harvest were obtained in T2; The highest biological yield, economic yield and dry weight were observed in T11. The time from primordial initiation to harvest was observed in T1 and the highest average number of fruiting body/packet in T2, the highest average weight of individual fruiting body in T33, the highest mean height of fruiting bodies in T11 and the highest average diameter of Pileus was observed in T22. Pileus, gill and stipe were the different mushroom parts visited by insects belonging to orders Diptera (58.20%), Coleoptera (3.21 %), Blattodea (0.28 %). Insects reduce the quality and quantity of the fungi. Among many aspects, T11 was found as the best substrate with biological and economic yields