Abstract
Mushrooms are popular for their delicacy and flavored food value. Among the various mushrooms cultivated in India, paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella spp.) holds a good promise and its cultivation have been introduced as a cottage industry. It has several advantages like requirement of the tropical or sub-tropical climate, fast growth rate, easy cultivation technology and good acceptability at consumers’ level. Various methods were employed to enhance the Biological Efficiency of Volvariella volvacea. Cage method of cultivation proved its superiority among all the methods tested and gave highest Biological Efficiency (12.10 %) followed by bed method and spiral method of cultivation. Mixing of banana pseudo stem and paddy straw in the ratio of 1:1 increased the yield ( 14.90% B.E) which was 34.23 % higher than paddy straw. Hand threshed straw of local indigenous variety showed maximum yield and Biological Efficiency (14.15%) in comparison to cattle and tractor threshed high yielding rice variety. A range of 10.36 % to 30.57 % increase in Biological Efficiency was obtained with different supplements. Maximum yield (16.45 % B.E.) was recorded from 2 % red gram supplemented substrate followed by 2% rice bran (14.15 % B.E). The above findings will provide valuable information to the cultivators and help them for generating extra income through paddy straw mushroom cultivation.
Highlights
Mushrooms are macro fungi which utilized as food and medicines since ancient times
Paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) is the sixth most important mushroom cultivated in the world with an annual production of 180800 metric tonnes accounting for 3% of the total mushroom production
Cellulose/lignin ratios in substrates were positively correlated to mycelial growth rates and mushroom yields [11] which can be maintained by proper supplementation of substrates
Summary
Mushrooms are macro fungi which utilized as food and medicines since ancient times. FAO recognizes mushroom as a proteinaceous food for the poor people in underdeveloped countries. Paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) is the sixth most important mushroom cultivated in the world with an annual production of 180800 metric tonnes accounting for 3% of the total mushroom production. This mushroom can use wide range of cellulosic materials and the C : N ratio needed is 40 to 60, quite high in comparison to other cultivated mushrooms. The high temperature requirement 26°C to 30°C for mycelium development and 34 to 37°C for fructification [4] relative humidity 70-90% [5] make it a good choice for adoption in round the year cultivation of mushrooms This mushroom can be successfully cultivated on several crop residues like paddy straw cotton waste wheat straw and sugarcane industrial waste.
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