Pests of Mushroom

Abstract

An annual production of mushroom in India is estimated to be 40,000 million tonnes approximately out of which 39,000 million tonnes are Agaricus and rest are Pleurotus and Volvariella (Dhar 1997). Out of this 80-85% is button mushroom, 15-19% is of oyster and the remaining 1% is of other mushrooms. Although there are several hundred species of mushrooms (including edible and non-edible forms) in India but three main types are cultivated on a commercial scale. They are white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, oyster mushroom, Pleurotus spp. and tropical paddy straw mushroom, Volvariella spp. Button mushrooms are generally highly susceptible to nematode infection while oyster mushrooms are relatively resistant. They are being cultivated under semi-scientific conditions (use of partially sterilized media and casing soil, use of implements, container, etc. seldom treated with formalin, etc.) with limited inputs. Other biotic stresses such as insects, bacteria, fungi and nematodes cause heavy losses. Hence, the commercial productivity is much less than that of other countries. Today most of the industrialized countries viz., USA, Great Britain, China, Holland and France are producing mushroom.