Mushroom

Indian Phytopath. 65 (1) : 1-11 (2012)

~a~~

Mundkur Memorial Lecture Award*

Current scenario of mushroom research in India
V. PRAKASAM* Department of Plant Pathology, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Coimbatore 641 003 University,

Agriculture will continue to be the main strength of Indian economy. With the variety of agricultural crops grown today, we have achieved food security by producing about 240 million tonnes of food grains. However, our struggle to achieve nutritional security is still on. In future, the ever increasing population, depleting agricultural land, changes in environment, water shortage and need for quality food products at competitive rates are going to be the vital issues and secondary agricultural vocations are going to occupy a prominent place to fill the void of quality food requirements. The demand for quality food and novel products is increasing with the changes in life style and income. To meet these challenges and to provide food and nutritional security to our people, it is important to diversify the agricultural activities in areas like horticulture. Diversification in any farming systems imparts sustainability. Mushlbom are one such component that impart diversification and also help in addressing the problems of quality food, health and environmental sustainability. The present century is going to be a century of functional foods from synthetic chemicals and mushroom cultivation fits very well into this category and is going to be an important vocation. Mushrooms represent microbial technology that recycles agricultural residues into food and manure. It is a solid state fermentation system in which crop residues are converted into valuable food rich in microbial protein. These are important source of quality protein, minerals and various novel compounds of medicinal value, do not compete for land and have very high productivity per unit area and time. These are considered to be the highest protein producers per unit area and time due to utilization of vertical space and short crop cycle. Due to their cultivation under controlled conditions the water requirement is less than any other crop grown in the field and has all the potentials of being a major crop in coming years.

Mushroom farming today is being practiced in more than 100 countries and its production is increasing at an annual rate of 6-7%. In some developed countries of Europe and America, mushroom farming has attained the status of a high-tech industry with very high levels of mechanization and automation. China leads in mushroom production and china alone is reported to grow more than 20 different types of mushroom at commercial scale and mushroom cultivation has become China's sixth largest industry. The USA is the second largest producer of mushroom sharing 16% of the world output. Presently, three geographical regions- Europe, America and East Asia contribute to about 96% of world mushroom production. cultivation in India

History of Mushroom

The history of mushroom cultivation goes back to the ages of "VEDA" wherein the mention was made in the classical religious scriptures like 'Rig Veda' and 'Atharva Veda' about use of juice from fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) as a intoxicating drink, named as "Soma". However, the systematic research on Mushroom domestication was not aimed for quite a long period.

Newton (1886) exhibited some edible mushrooms in the annual flower show of Horticultural Society of India. B.C. Roy (1896-1897) of the Calcutta Medical College carried chemical analysis of the local mushrooms prevalent in caves or mines. Sir David Prain (1908) made thorough search for edible mushrooms from various parts of India. In 1918, Kirtikar of Imperial Mycological Society ~ecorded the occurrence of mushrooms from Calcutta. Bose (1921-1926) successfully raised Agaricus on sterilised dung. Bose and Bose (1940) discussed some methods for growing mushrooms on horse manure. In 1940, Su and Seth described the procedure for spawn and cultivation of Volvariella. However, the first successful cultivation techniques for paddy straw mushroom, Volvariella volvacea was demonstrated by Thomas in the year 1943 in Agricultural College, Coimbatore. This lead to the spread of cultivation of this mushroom in all parts of India. Asthana (1947) investigated on the supplementation of paddy straw

*Mundkur Memorial Lecture Award was delivered on 3m December, 2011 during 64th Annual meeting of the Indian Phytopathological Society and National Symposium on "Biology of infection, immunity and disease control in pathogen-plant interactions" at University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. Email: [email protected]

2

Indian Phytopathology 65 (1) : 1-11 (20'

mushroom beds with horsegram powder to boost the yield. But it is yet to be adopted on a commercial scale. Being a tropical mushroom, it is highly suitable for northern Plains as well as coastal and plateaus of South India. However, a very little research support has been extended of this mushroom in India because of its very low yield potential coupled with highly perishable nature of the fruiting bodies. In 1961, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, started first cultivation of Agaricus bisporus at Solan in Himachal Pradesh in collaboration with Government of Himachal Pradesh. Researches conducted during 60s and 70s were more or less adaptive in nature and production technology developed lacked the refinement. Directorate of Mushroom Research In 1971, an ICAR sponsored coordinated scheme on mushroom research was started at Solan, Ludhiana, Bangalore and New Delhi. During 1974 under UNDP a pilot scale cultivation plant for button' mushrooms was started in Himachal Pradesh. E.F.K. Mandel, one of the FAO expert guided the Department of Agriculture, Himachal Pradesh for the construction of a modern spawn laboratory. These efforts paved the way for the introduction of button mushroom in India. Meanwhile the National Centre for Mushroom Research and Training (NCMRT) was established on 23rdOctober, 1982 and the centre became functional with effect from 8thJune, 1983 under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. This centre was renamed as National Research Centre for Mushroom in 1997 and upgraded to Directorate of Mushroom Research in December, 2008. Mandateand Objectivesof AICRP-Mushroom,DMR, Solan This Directorate is the only organization exclusively dedicated to mushroom research and development in the country.The Directorate has developed array of technologies for different types of mushrooms suitable for cultivation in various agro-climatic regions of the country. The Directorate is also the headquarter of Nationwide coordinated initiative namely, All India Coordinated Research Project on Mushroom. Initially, AICRP- Mushroom was started with six centres one each at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (Tamil Nadu), Punjab Agricultural University (Punjab), G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (Uttarkand), C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology (Kanpur), Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (West Bengal) and Mahatma Phule ,Agricultural University (Maharashtra). After establishing the All India Coordinated Research Projects on Mushroom (AICRP-Mushroom) at Solan, the research on this mushroom was intensified. Our country has registered twenty-fold increase in production of mushrooms in th~ last four decades, even though, button mushroom continues to occupy a prominent place and contributes about 85% of the total mushroom production of the country. At present 14 co-ordinating centres and 2 co-operating centres are functioning under AICRP-Mushroom, located in 15 states. Of these, 14 centres are based at State

Agricultural Universities, while 2 at ICAR institutes. Thn centres functioning at Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gc were closed. Current Status of mushroom production in India Commercial production of edible mushrooms represen' unique exploitation of the microbial technology for the bl conversion of the agricultural, industrial, forestry an household waste into nutritious food (mushrooms). Ol country can emerge as a major player in mushroor production in wake of availability of plenty of agriculturi residues and labour. Integrating mushroom cultivation il the existing farming systems will not only supplement thl income of the farmers but also will promote proper recyclin! of agro-residues thereby improving soil health am promoting organic agriculture. In India, mushroom researct started in 60s and the cultivation picked up in 70s. India has varied agro-climate, abundance of agricultural residues and plenty of manpower making il suitable for cultivating different mushrooms. Major part 0 agricultural waste produce to India is let out to decompos naturally or burnt in situ. This can effectively be utilized t produce highly nutritive food such as mushrooms and spent mushroom substrate can be converted into organic manure. Mushrooms are grown seasonally as well as in state-of-art environment controlled cropping rooms all the year round in the commercial units. Mushroom growing is a highly labour, oriented venture and labour availability is no constraint in the country and two factors, that is, availabilities of raw materials and labour make mushroom growing, economically profitable in India. Moreover, scope for intense diversification by cultivation of other edible mushrooms like oyster, shiitake, milky and other medicinal mushrooms arel additional opportunities for Indian growers. At present, four mushrooms viz., button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus spp.), paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella spp.) and milky mushroom (Calocybe indica) have been recommended for round the year cultivation in India.
India produces about 600 million tonnes of agricultural byproducts, which can profitably be utilized for the cultivation of mushrooms. Currently, we are using 0.04% of these residues for producing around 1.2 Jakh tons of mushrooms of which 85% is button mu;;hroom. India contributes about 3% of the total world button mushroom productiol). Even if we use 1% of the residues for mushroom production, we can produce 3.0 million tons of mushrooms, which will be almost equal to current global button mushroom production (current world production 3.4 million tons). To remain competitive it will be important to harness science and modern technologies for solving the problems of production and bio-risk management. Mushroom being an indoor crop, utilizing vertical space offers an solution to shrinking land and better water utility. The world mushroom production is continuously increasing from 0.30 to 3.41 million tonnes over period of last 50 years from 1961- 2010 as per FAO Statistics. The three major mushroom producing countries are China, USA

.--

Indian Phytopathology 65 (1) : 1-11 (2012) Table 1. Present State-wise mushroom production in India (tons) State Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh J&K Jharkand Karnataka Kerala Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Union Territories A&N Islands Chandigarh Dadar&Nagar Haveli Daman&Diu Delhi Lakshadweep Puducherry Total (Manjit Singh et al., 2010) and Netherland which account for more than 60 per cent of the world production. The s~are of China itself is 46 percent. The other leading countries which contribute much for Italy, Button, oyster, milky and paddy straw mushrooms profile in different seasons. Two-three crops mushroom production are Poland, Spain, Ireland, Canada and United Kingdom. France, Button 2,992 20 20 400 0 500 0 7,175 5,864 565 200 0 0 2,725 10 0 25 0 0 36 '58,000 100 1 4,000 0 8,000 7,000 50 0 0 0 0 3,000 0 0 1,00683 Oyster 15 5 100 80 50 20 5 0 110 15 20 15 500 200 5 10 2 50 75 810 2,000 10 2 2,000 100 0 0 50 100 0 0 0 50 0 0 6,399 Milky 15 0 5 0 0 0 0 3 17 0 0 10 300 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 920 Other Mushroom 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 50 0 0 250 5,000 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5,313

3

Total Production 3,022 26 125 480 50 520 5 7,178 5,993 585 220 25 800 2,975 15 60 27 50 325 5,846 60,000 120 3 6,500 100 8,000 7,000 100 100 0 0 0 3,070 0 0 1,13,315

control and increased understanding of the cropping system, mushroom production shot up from 5000 tons in 1970 to over 1,20,000 tonnes in 2011.
are

The current Indian estimates, mushroom production in India is about 1.2 lakh metric tons, which is 3 per cent of world production. In India mushroom production systems are of mixed type i.e., both seasonal farming as well as high-tech cultivation. In India mushroom research started in 60s and the cultivation picked up in 70s. Presently, the country produces 1.2 lakh tonnes of mushrooms and growth rate, both in terms of productivity as well as production, has been phenomenal. In seventies and eighties button mushroom was grown as a seasonal crop in hills, but with the development of the technologies for environmental

cultivated in different parts of the country as per temperature of button mushroom are grown seasonally in temperate regions with

minor adjustments of temperate in the growing rooms, while one crop of button mushroom is raised in North western plains of India seasonally. Oyster, paddy straw and milky mushrooms are grown seasonally in the tropical/sub-tropical areas from April to October. The cultivation methods for these sub-tropical/tropical Flammulina, mushrooms Agrocybe,
etc. have

and others like Lentinula, Stropharia,
also been

Auricularia,

Macrocybe,

Hericium, Ganoderma,

standardized.

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Indian

Phytopathology

65 (1) : 1-11 (2012~

Table 2. A scenario of Mushroom production in India Mushroom Button mushroom Oyster mushroom Paddy straw mushroom and other Milky mushroom
Annual Production (Tons)

100683 6399 5313 920

Mushrooms are popularly grown in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and North eastern regions of India. Many commercial units are located in different regions of our country and produce quality mushroom for export round the year.
Table 3. Leading states in Mushroom cultivation State/ Union Territory Punjab Uttarakhand Haryana Uttar Pradesh Tamil Nadu Himachal Pradesh Orissa
Andhra Delhi Maharashtra Kerala (Manjit Singh et al., 2011) Pradesh Annual Production (Tons)

60000 8000 7178 7000 6500 5993 5846 3022 3070 2975 80D

Pleurotus collections

Schizophyllum

Termitomyces

Bio diversity of mushrooms

in India

One of the main mandates of all the centre under AICRPMushroomis regular survey forcollectionofwildgermplasm, identification and conservation. As many as 914 wild mushroom specimens collected from different centres were preserved and data base was developed. Almost same group of fungi were identified year after year in the ecosystems of the different centres. The fungi which are very frequently collected from the different sources mainly come under the following genera: Agaricus, Pleurotus, Volvariella,Calocybe, Tricholoma,Schizophyllum, Lentiula, Hypsizygus, Auricularia, Termitomyces, Ganoderma, Morchella, Cortyceps, Boletus, Russula, Amanita, Cantharellus, Hericium, Grifola, Tuber,Xylaria, Polyporus, Agrocybe, Coprinus, Laccaria and Lactarius,. Button mushroom
.

Morchella

Coprinus

Cordyceps

Agaricus

White button mushroom is the most popular ofthe cultivated mushrooms. This was the first mushroom to be commercially exploited on industrial scale. The genas Agaricus has two cultivated species namely A. bisporus (temperate button mushroom) and A. bitorquis (tropical or high temperature tolerant white button mushroom). The former is a low temperature species requiring 16:t2° C for its fruiting, the later, on the other hand grows at higher temperature

Hypsizygus

Lentinula

Indian Phytopathology 65 (1) : 1-11 (2012)

5

Auricularia

Trir;holoma

Lactarius

Calocybe

Boletus

Russulla

Tricholoma

Ganoderma

mushrooms. A bisporus requires 23-25° C for spawn run and 16-18° C for cropping where as Abitorquis needs 2830° C for spawn run and 25° C for cropping. Both the mushroom need high relative humidity more than 85-90 percent.

Amanita

Cantharellus

A.bisporus

A.bitorquis

Hericium

Grifola

The research on button mushroom took a drastic change after introduction of the AICRP-Mushroom. The different centres which work on this mushrooms identified strains which are suitable for their states. The strains developed by DMR, Solan namely NCS-100, NCS-101 and NCH-102 were popularly recommended for commercial cultivation. The preference of some selections from different centres are listed in the Table 5.
However, in India the introduction of exotic strains and

testing their suitability for Indian conditions continued till late eighties as there lacks enough variability in the existing

Xylaria

Polyporus
Table 4. Leading states in Button Mushroom production State/ Union Territory Punjab Uttarakhand Haryana Uttar Pradesh Himachal Pradesh
Annual Production (Tons)

58000 8000 7175 7000 5864 4000 3000 2992 2725

Agrocybe

Laccaria

Tamil Nadu Delhi

(23:t2) °C. A bisporus is very popularly grown in India and only a very limited cultivationis focussed on A bitorquis. The cultivation technology is common for both the

Andhra

Pradesh

Maharashtra

6
Table 5. Performance of A. bispous strains at different centres

Indian Phytopathology 65 (1) : 1-11

(2012):

3.

Centre/ State Coimbatore- Tamil Nadu Udaipur- Rajasthan Raipur- Chhattisgarh Barapani- Meghalaya Pune- Maharashtra

Strains NCS- 1, S-11, NCB-6, NCS-145 CM-5, CM-10, S-11, NCB-1, NCB-2, NC-6 NCS-100, NCs- 102 CM-14 P-1

Sparying of 0.15 per cent Veradix (rooting hormone) aj pinning stage was advocated for increasing the yield in Maharashtra.

4.

The research work done by Coimbatore centre at Uthagamandalan in Nilgiris lead to release of two varieties of button mushroom for commercial cultivation The varities are Ooty 1 and Ooty 2

5. Strain-NCS-1 (A. bisporus) and NCB- 6 (A. bitorquis)

form DMR, Solan were also found to be highly suitable for Tamil Nadu.
bispored strains of Agaricus due to high degree of inbreeding and practically no wild germ plasm of A. bisporus is available in Indian Gene bank.

6. 7. 8.

Farm Yard manure+ loam soil was the besy casing material for Tamil Nadu Conditions.

The following are the exotic hybrids/ varieties of A. bisporus commercially grown in India.
Table 6. Exotic hybrids/ varieties of A. bisporus cultivated Varieties/ Hybrids in India

Compost using wheat straw was found to be the besl for Tamil Nadu conditions.

Country Mentel, Germany Darlington, UK Sylvan, USA Fritsche, Holland Mycelia, Belgium Amycel, Canada Le Lion, France

Compost formulation with sugarcane bagasse + wheal straw (2: 1) was found to be very cost- effective in Chhattisgarh.

S-11 S-791 S-130, S-140 Hybrids U-1, U-3 M-7207, M-7218, M- 7219 Delta X-13

9.

In A. bitorquis, the strains NCB- 2 and NCB-6 were found to be highly suitable for Rajasthan state. In A. bisporus, NCS-11 and MS-39 were found to perform better at Rajasthan.

10. Farm yard manure was found to be better casing medium for cultivation of button mushroom in Rajasthan

11. The strains NCS-100 and NCH- 102 were suitable for Chhattisgarh state.

However, due to the efforts taken by Indian scientists employing hybridization, mutation and genetic manipulation in the field of button mushroom, there has been almost an exponential growth both in production and productivity during last ten years, out put reaching 25,000 tonnes in 1995 from meager 1000 tonnes in 1985. In addition to the Long Method of Composting (LMC), Short Method of Composting (SMC), a new technology namely Indoor composting was developed for cultivation of Button mushroom. Compost prepared either under LMC or SMC involves traditional outdoor composting which causes environmental pollution. Large amounts of malodorous gases viz., ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulphide and other methylated sulphur compounds are emitted in the atmosphere creating nuisance. In this case, whole composting process is carried out indoors in specially built tunnels and hence, it is called indoor composting. Total duration of the process is over by 12 days.

12. The casing material prepared with a mixture of farm, yard manure+spent compost+vermin compost was found to be highly suitable for Himachal Pradesh conditions. 13. Strain CM- 14 of A. bisporus was the best suitable one for Meghalaya.

Oyster Mushroom

,

Salient finding in button mushroom research
The followin1 are the some of important research findings identified by the various centres which work on mushroom. 1. Wheat straw based compost was found to be best for Maharashtra and Coir pith was identified as a good casing medium for the mushroom cultivation. Spraying 0.2 per cent calcium chloride was recommended for higher yields in Maharashtra.

Pleurotus mushroom which is generally referred to as 'Oyster mushroom' world over and as 'Dhingri' in India, has its origin from Greek word "pleuro" which means formed laterally or in a side way position, particularly referring to the lateral position of the stipe (stem) in relation to pileus (cap). Species of the genus Pleurotus are well appreciated' for their broad adaptability under varied agro-climatic i conditions. The several species of this mushroom OCCU commonly as wood- decomposers in forests throughout the world. Pleurotus has always been most attractive to commercial mushroom growers because of the ease by which most species can be cultivated. Majority of the oyster: can be better grown in the temperature range of 20-30° C with high relative humidity more than 85 per cent. Majority of the species need 25-30° C for spawn run and 20-25° C for cropping. :

2.

After inception of AICRP on mushroom the researchl work on mushroom took a new diversion and several new species of Pleurotus were identified for commercial' cultivation. Mushroom Research and Training Centre of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University contributed much for the

Indian Phytopathology 65 (1) : 1-11 (2012) Table 7. Leading states in oyster mushroom production
State/ Union Territory Annual Production (tons)

7 5.

Wheat straw supplemented with soy bean flour is recommended for oyster mushroom cultivation in Maharashtra. Supplementation of 2 per cent of deoiled soy bean meal with paddy straw is recommended for Maharashtra for increasing the yield of oyster mushrooms P. sajor-caju and P.florida. Four per cent rice bran supplementation was recommended for higher yields of P sajor-caju in Rajasthan. Hollow bed method was found to increase the yield of P. florida in Chhattisgarh. Supplementation of 2 per cent wheat bran enhanced the yield of Psajor- caju, P.florida and P.ostreatus in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Tamil Nadu Punjab Orissa Kerala Maharashtra Himachal Pradesh

2000 2000 810 500 200 110 100 100 100

6.

7.

Assam Tripura
A&N Islands

8. 9.

(Manjit Singh et al., 2011)

introduction of several new oyster mushrooms as this centre is one of the oldest centre of AICRP- Mushroom and the scheme was implemented in the year 1983. The centre has contributed in releasing the following oyster mushrooms for commercial cultivation: P sajor-caju (M2), P citrinopileatus (C01), P. florida (Pf), P. eous (APK 1), P. djamor (MDU1), P. flebellatus (MDU2), Pplatypus (Pp) and

10. Supplementation of substrate with 5 per cent wheat bran and sparying 0.1 per cent urea increased the yield of P. florida in Meghalaya. 11. In the cultivation of oyster mushroom in India, in addition to the existing technologies viz., Hot water treatment, Steam sterilizaton, Chemical treatment, a new Composting technology was developed. Composting technology The substrate is cot into small pieces and add ammonium sulphate or urea (0.5 to 1 per cent) and lime (1 per cent) nm dry weight basis. After mixing, the mixture is completely wetted with water ans prepare Triangular heap of 77- 90 cm but not more than 1 metre height. After 2 days, turning is done and super phosphate) 1 per cent) and lime (0.5per cent was added. The compost is ready after two days of this turning. The compost is pasteurized inside a tunnel at 5860°C for 4 h and conditioned at 40-45°C for 30-36 h.
Milky Mushroom Milky mushroom (Calocybe indica) is of recent introduction to the mushroom world. The mushroom was first identified by Purkayasha and Chandra in west Bengal during 1974. All though the work was attempted in several states of India, successful technology for cultivation of this mushroom was done in Tamil Nadu by Krishnamoorthy during 1998. At present Tamil Nadu is the majqr producer of milky mushroom in India. Several new strains of Calocybe were identified by Prakasam and Karthikayini in the year 2009. Two strains were identified as promising Ci (N) and Ci (P). The continued work on the survey lead to identification of new genus of milky mushroom viz., Tricholoma lobayense during the year 2002 by Anandh and Prakasam at Coimbatore.

Hipsizygus ulmarius (Co2).

,

The work done at ND University of Agrl and Technology, Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh lead to identification of one species of P. florida, p,. sajor- caju, one hybrid strain of P.sajor-caju and Hypsizygus ulmarius for cultivation in the state. The contribution from Indira Gandhi Agrl. Univerity, Raipur is identifying two oyster mushrooms (NMS- strain of P.florida and Indira Sweta OM-1) for commercial cultivation in Chhattisgarh. One variety of oyster viz.,Ananthan (P. petaloides) was identified by Kerala Agricultural University centre at Vel layan i. P.sajor-caju and P.florida were identified for cultivation in .Uttarakhand. P.fossulatus, P.floida and H. ulmarius were ide~tified for cultivation in Rajasthan. Two oyster mushrooms, Pflorida and Ptlabellatus were recommended for cultivation in Chhattisgarh. For the state of Jhatkhand, P.floida, P.sajor-caju and H. ulmarius were recommended for commercial cultivation. P.floida, and H. ulrT}arius are found to perform better at Meghalaya. Salient findings in Oyster mushroom research The following are the some of important research findings identified by the various centres which work on mushroom.

1. All the identified oyster mushrooms viz., P.sajor-caju, P. citrinopileatus, P. florida, P. eous, and P.platypus were
recommended for cultivation thorough out the year.

2.

Blue oyster mushroom, Hypsizygus ulmarius identified with 124 per cent bio efficiency recomfnended for cultivation in Tamil Nadu.

was and

3.

Spraying 0.1 M K2HPO4 at pin head stage is recommended for increasing the yield of P. florida in Tamil Nadu.
Supplementation of paddy straw with 5 per cent of steam sterilized neem cake is recommended in Tamil Nadu for increasing the yield in oyster mushrooms.

4.

A new species of Tricholomaviz. T. giganteum were identified by Prakasam et al. (2011) for commercial cultivation and recommended for release from the state of Tamil Nadu. The cultivation methods are similar for both the mushrooms. The mushrooms need 25-30° C for spawn run and 30- 35° C for cropping. The mushroom can tolerate the temperature up to 40° C, however, the yield may be reduced. The spawn run is completed inside the thatched house and cropping is completed in side a sunken blue polythene house.

....

g

8
Table 8. Leading states in milky mushroom State/ Union Territory Tamil Nadu production Production (Tons)

Indian Phytopathology

65 (1) : 1-11

I

1. 2.

Annual

The strain PS-1 was found to be the best forTamil conditions.

500 ,300 50 20

Kerala Maharashtra Delhi (Manjit Singh et al., 2011)

Supplementaion of paddy straw with cotton wastl neem leaves at 5 per cent gave better yields in Nadu.
Soaking paddy straw for m 18 hrs was recomme for higher yields in Tamil Nadu. Open method for cultivation of paddy straw mush was developed in Tamil Nadu. Circular Compact beds resulted in higher yield in Nadu in indoors.

3. 4. 5.
6.

Salient findings in milky mushroom research The following are the some of important research findings identified by the various centres which work on mushroom.

1.

Cultivation technology was developed in Uttarakhand for cultivation of milky mushroom using wheat straw and Farm yard manure+ spent compost+ sand (2:1:1) as casing medium.
At Chhattisgarh, wheat straw + paddy straw at 1:1 ratio was found to be the best for cultivation of milky mushroom.

Poly bag method of cultivation was also develop Tamil andu for indoor cultivation. paddy straw mushroom in Chhattisgarh.

7. Spiral twists of paddy straw were recommende 8.
9. In Jharkhand, VV-7, VV9 and VV 11 were identifiE better strains for cultivation. The strain VV-6 performed better at Meghalya sta

2.

Shiitake mushroom Paddy straw mushroom Paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) also known as Chinese mushroom. It is tropical species growing in the temperature regimes of 28- 35 ° C. In India, this species was first grown in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 1942. The commercial cultivation of this mushroom could not make much progress except in some states of Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala. Currently Orissa is the leader in commercial cultivation of this mushroom. This mushroom needs 30-35° C for spawn run and 28-32° C for cropping. The spawn is usually prepared using paddy straw as substrate. Sometimes, grain spawn also used for cropping.

Lentinula edodes, commonly called as Shiitake, is like the consumers for its unique taste, flavour and medii properties. The mushroom can be grown on Synthetic method or by Wood log method. Practically this mushr is not grown in India on commercial way, however, extensively cultivated in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea USA.
Salient findings in mushroom research The following are the some of important research find identified by the various centres which work on mushrc

In addition to the conventional, Bundle method of cultivation, following new techniques were developed. Improved Cage method, Out door cultivation (open field cultivation), Indoor method (compost method), circular campact method and polybag method. The compact method of bed preparation was introduced for the first time in India by Sangeetha and Prakasam during the year 2002. Table 9. Leading states in paddy straw mushroom and other
mushrooms State Orissa Nagaland Maharashtra Delhi
(Manjit Singh et al., 2011) Annual Production (Tons)

1. Saw dust supplemented with 20 per cent wheat l
gave highest yield of L. edodes at DMR, Solan.

2.

Silver oak+ wheat bran (20 per cent) was found t< best substrate for cultivation of Shiitake in Tamil N1

Wheat straw with 20 per cent supplementation of po saw dust was perfected at Uttarakhflnd.
Wood ear mushroom The wood ear mushroom is also called as Jews I

5000 250 50 20

mushroom or Black ear mushroom. The two main spec of cultivated commercially are Auricularia polytricha am

auricula. The latter is thin and lighter in colour whereasl former is thicker and long haired. The mushroom cultiva using synthetic log or wood log methods as done in Shiit9 As in shiitake, this mushroom is not cultivated commerci in India but grown in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and U:
The following are the some of important research findil identified by the various centres which work on mushro(

Salient findings in mushroom research The following are the some of important research findings identified by the various centres which work on mushroom.

1.

Supplementation of wheat straw with 2 per cent whl bran and 2 per cent rice bran was recommended:

Mahrashtra.

I

10

Indian Phytopathology 65 (1) : 1-11 (201fnd the cost of production of mushrooms and its processingf'r order to compete in the international market.

available for marketing of mushrooms in India. Every exportoriented unit has its own individual arrangement for marketing, and the mushrooms are preserved in brine and canned in large containers of 3-5 litres (or bigger) capacity for export. Government support for mushroom marketing is not available in India, nor is any special/prefential quota available in the European Union (as is available to certain other nations). Direct export to USA/Germany under some sort of arrangement is one alternative that is presently being utilized. There are no processing units devoted to provide support for this industry, except for some limited support by NAFED to seasonal growers in the north-western plains of India. Such support is available to mushroom growers in China, where they are able to process their produce on a large-scale at rail-accessible points for export. Finance at lower interest rate, and inputs for infrastructure at fair prices. can also help this industry to keep down the cost of cultivation. Lower production cost, together with higher productivity, can help the industry to become globally competitive. A long-term strategy has to be developed to help the industry. As India itself is a big market, vigorous extension activities are required to make the people aware of mushrooms, which can help in developing market in India itself. This is the success of Chinese mushroom industry as they consume more than 80% of mushroom produced by them. There is no denying the fact that production of mushrooms, especially of the white button mushroom, in India has gone up in the last few years but it has also exacerbated its marketing problems. There have been frequent reports of gluts in north Indian states during the winter months forcing the distress sale of the mushrooms. It should be borne in mind that efforts to increase the production without solving its marketing problems, would be counter-productive. The marketing of fresh mushrooms would determine the future of mushroom industry in India Despite the changing currents, there is not yet much market for the processed foods and basically fresh vegetables and fruits are preferred in this country. Fresh mushrooms have very short shelf -life, cannot be transported to long distances without refrigerated transport facility and are sold in localized markets in and around production areas. The cultivation of white button mushrooms throughout the year under the controlled conditions is restricted to few commercial units and 30-40% of the production is being done under natural conditions during the winters. All the problems of marketing is experienced in 2-3 winter months (Dec-Feb) when more than 75% of the annual production comes in market for sale in limited duration and market area. Farmers face the consequences of over-saturated market and are forced to sell their produce at highly unremunerative prices. Private processors, rather than coming f9r rescue, get tempted to avail of the situation for their benefit.
In the coming years there is going to be good demand for processed and fast foods. Mushrooms may be canned to meet the demand in the off season and in the nonproducing areas. Product diversification should also be tried. Regarding the problems of sale/export of canned mushrooms, serious thought has to be given to bring down

There is not much problem in the sale of fresh Pluerot~ due to very low production but there have been problemsf3al selling dried 'Dhingri' particularly its export whe~ middlemen take lion's share. Generally, the export ordel are too big to be met by a single grower. Pleurotus growel may form a cooperative where they may pool their produfhi and trade. APEDA and other Central as well as Sta~ agencies would be too willing to help them once they a~ assured of sufficient consignment for export, for 2-3 yearfh

Future developmental activities in Mushroom cultivatio, Some key developmentalprogrammeswhich requiredLltKa:
attentions in coming years in our country are the followin~

.
.

Monitoring the establishment of spawn units in publ~Sil and private sectors, and enforcing spawn standar~ and fair price.
Involvement organisation Kri of cooperatives and other marketinl . for providing the required inputs as we! of mushrooms. Kr:

as help in viable marketing

. . .

Declaration of a minimum support-price for mushroom4 and provisions for insurance coverage.

Pr

Technical guidance and financial support to the small scale and export oriented processing industries. PI Creation of Mushroom Development Board (MDB) lik~ Coffee Board and Coir Board for promotion 01 mushroom processing and marketing industry in Indial Guidelines for notification and release of mushrool!j varieties on the lines of Central Committee for Cropl standards and variety release. P

.

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Ahlawat, O.P., Satish Kumar, Arumuganathan, T. and Tiwari~
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Anandh, K. (2001). Identification of new edible mushroom speciesl for commercial cultivation. Ph.D. Thesis, Tamil Nadul Agricultural University, Coimbatore. pp: 135.

Anandh, K. and Prakasam, V. (2002). Tricholoma lobayense, aj
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Anandh, K.and Prakasam, V.(2003). Some cultivable mushrooml
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I

R.D. Rai), Mushroom Society of India, Solan. pp. 30-34. Anonymous. (2011). All India Coordinated research Project onl Muahrrom. Annual Report 2010-11, Directorate of Mushrooml Research, Solan. pp 8-48. Anonymous. ( 2011). Vision 2030. Directorate of Mushrooml Research, Solan. pp. 23.

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Arunkumar, R. (2008). Development of improved technologies for commercial production of shitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Pegler) in Tamil Nadu. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. pp.53. Bano, Z. and Rajarathnam, S. (1982). Pleurotus mushroom as nutritious food. In: Tropical Mushroom - Biological Nature and Cultivation Methods (Eds. Chang, S.T. and Quimio, T.H.). The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong. pp. 363-382. Chadha, K.L. and Sharma, S.R. (1995). Advances in Horticulture. Volume. 13. Mushroom. Malhotra Publishing House, New Delhi. pp. 649. Chang, S.T. (1972). The Chinese Mushroom (Volvariella volvacea). In: Morphology, Cytology, Genetics, Nutrition and Cultivation. (Ed. Quimio, T.H.). The Chinese Univ. Press, Hongkong. pp. 14-35.

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Sakthivel, K. (2010). Standardization of cultivation techniques for black poplar mushroom- Agrocybe aegerita in Tamil Nadu. M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. pp.91.

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Karthikayini, A. (2009). Strainal variation studies on mushroom
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Suresh Kumar, G. (2006). Identification of new edible mushrooms
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Krishnamoorthy, A.S. (1995). Studies on the cultivationof milky mushroom, Calocybe indica P.&C. Ph.D.Thesis, Tamil Nadu
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