Evaluation of Different Substrates for Spawn Preparation of Calocybe indica and its Impact on Yield and Biological Efficiency

Abstract

Background: Popularities of mushrooms is because of attractive texture and delicious taste, among the cultivated mushrooms milky mushroom has ability to grow in higher temperature and is also considered to be alternative of non-veg foods for vegetarians. In India some part of the country holds good promise towards the cultivation of milky mushroom, for fast growth of mycelium or easy cultivation. This experiment is mainly focused on evaluation of yield and yield contributing characteristic of milky mushroom (Calocybe indica). Methods: The spawn production process was carried out at the Experiential Learning Unit, Mushroom Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology, Institute of Agriculture, Palli Sikha Bhavana, Visva Bharati in the year 2018-2019. Pure culture of milky mushroom procured from Tropical Mushroom Research Centre, OUAT, Bhubaneswar and was maintained on PDA medium. Different food grains for preparation of spawn viz., wheat grain, paddy grain, bajra grain and sorghum grain were used. Result: In the present work, we have observed that the four easily available food grains can efficiently be used as substrate for preparation of spawn. This study enables us to take decision about selection of food grains for quality spawn production.