Recycling of Agro–forest wastes through Oyster Mushroom Cultivation

Prof N Irabanta Singh *

Introduction: Our publication in cultivation of Pleurotus spp. on agro-forest waste of Manipur, Indian Phytopath 62(1): 100-108, 2009 was adjusted as top paper for April first week, 2022 (Academic.edu 580 California st. suite 400. San Francisco, CA. 94/04). The Gist of the paper is reproduced here for the interest of Mushroom Growers.

Mushroom Cultivation & Harvesting Processes

The proccessed substrates were pre-soaked in water for overnight and then partially pasteurized by immersing them for 2 to 3hr in boiling water. Excess water was drained off to maintain 60-70% moisture content by squeezing with hands and then allowed to cool down for a certain period (1hr). The cooled substrate was then mixed with grain spawn and filled in perforated polythene bags (60 x 45 cm).

Spawning was done by ‘layer spawning method’ @ 100g/500g (dry wt.) of the substrate. After spawning, the mouth of the polythene bag was closed securely using a rubber band. For every treatment, 4 (four) replicates were kept.

All the bags were then incubated in a warm dark room for spawn running. The temperature of the mushroom shed was maintained at 25-300C. The bags were cut open when the mycelial run was completed.

Watering was done twice a day regularly and relative humidity (RH) was maintained at 80-90%. A total of 3 to 4 flushes were obtained within 45 days. Fresh weights of mushrooms were recorded upto third flush and biological efficiency of each Pleurotus sp. was calculated.

The yield perfor- mance of the 6 (six) Pleurotusspp. (P. ostreatus, P. flabellatus, P. eous, P. platypus, P. cornucopiae and P. columbinus) were evaluated on 11 (eleven) agro-forest wastes viz: Paddystraw, Sugarcane bagasses, Maize stalk, Mustard stick, Pea haulms, Coconut coir, Waste paper, Pine needles, Banana pseudostem, Rice husk and Saw dust.

The results indicate that when paddy straw was used as substrate, the highest yield (456.9g) was observed in P. ostreatus showing 91.4% biological efficiency (BE), whereas, the lowest yield (333.3g) was obtained in P. cornucopiae showing 66.7% BE. However, P. columbinus failed to develop mature fruiting body though profuse asexual coremial heads were observed all over the surface of the substrate.

The yield performance of Pleurotus spp.on sugarcane bagasse recorded highest in P. ostreatus (385.3g) with 77.1% BE, while P. cornucopiae showed the lowest yield (201g) with 40.2% BE and P. colum-binus failed to develop mature fruiting body. The yield of Pleurotus spp. onmaize stalk revealed that P. ostreatus produced the highest yield (424.3g, 84.9% BE) whereas, the lowest yield was recorded in P. platypus (342.3g, 68.5% BE).

The highest yield of Pleurotus spp. on mustard stick substrate was recorded in P. ostreatus (497.9g, 99.6% BE) whereas the lowest yield was recorded in P. platypus (319.8g, 64.0% BE). The highest and the lowest yield with pea haulms were recorded in P. ostreatus (433.3g, 86.7% BE) and P. platypus (312.2g, 62.4% BE), respectively.

In coconut coir substrate, P. flabellatus showed the highest yield (356.4g, 71.3% BE) whereas the lowest yield was found in P. platypus (206.7g, 41.3% BE). Waste paper as substrate could support sporophore production only for P. ostreatus yielding (102.1g, 20.4% BE). On pine needles, the highest and lowest yield were obtainedin P. flabellatus (206.3g, 41.3% BE) and P. eous (91.0g, 18.2% BE) respectively.

The yield on banana pseudostem were recorded highest in P. osteratus (433.6g, 86.7% BE) and lowest in P. platypus (126.7g, 25.3% BE). On rice husk, the highest and lowest yield were recorded in P. eous (415.8g, 83.2% BE) and P. platypus (350g, 70% BE) respectively. Using saw dust as substrate, it was found that only P. ostreatus could develop mature fruiting body yielding (103g, 20.6% BE) whereas other Pleurotus species failed to develop mycelial run.

In all the substrates tested P. columbinus fail to develop mature fruiting body. Successful cultivation of Pleurotus spp. with the use of paddy straw, different varieties of grasses, saw dust, pine needles, coconut coir, banana pseudo stem, wood logs, etc. have been made in earlier investigations. The present findings are in accordance with the earlier ones in respect to their efficacy in mushroom production.

However, in the present study, only P. ostreatus could produce sporophore successfully on waste paper which differs from the previous finding where waste paper was showed to be successfully utilized in cultivation of different Pleurotus spp. This variation might be due to the types of papers used.

However, the paper used by us was unprinted, trimmed pieces collected from the book binder. Further, Eswaran et al.1988 reported more than 90% BE of P. eous on paddy straw which does not agree with the present finding as only 77.8% BE was observed.

However, this fungus, in the present study, produced a good amount of sporophore on coconut coir which is in agreement with earlier reports. In the present finding, saw dust (mixture of Phoebe hainesiana, Tectona grandis and Dipterocarpus tuberculatus) as substrate could support the sporophore production of P. ostreatus only which differed from previous finding as P. platypus was reported to be successfully cultivated.

The yield of P. platypus on pine needles was slightly lower than the previous findings of Singh etal., 1993. Sugarcane bagasse and paddy straw could successfully support the sporophore production ofall the Pleurotus species as similar to the previous reports but differ in case of P. columbinus as it fails to develop mature fruiting body in the present study, which is in agreement with earlier report.

The oyster mushrooms like P. ostreatus and P. flabellatus could produce good yield on maize stalk, mustard stick and pea haulms which were in agreement with the earlier reports . The banana pseudo stem supported sporophore production of 4 (four) of the P. test species viz., P. ostreatus, P. flabellatus, eous and P. platypus.

Amongst the six different types of oyster mushrooms, P. ostreatus developed mature fruiting body and gave the highest yield on the majority (eight) of the eleven different substrates used, whereas, P. flabellatus gave highest yield on coconut coir and pine needles substrates and P. eous gave highest yield on rice husk substrate.

It was also observed that in all the substrates, P. columbinus failed to develop mature fruiting body but profuse growth of asexual coremial spores was occurred all over the surface of the substrates.

Conclusion & Recommendation: Pleurotus spp. found in Manipur can becultivated by using different agro-forest wastes, except for P. columbinus where the growth was imperfect.

Hence, agro-forest wastes can be recycled by utilizing as substrate for artificial cultivation of locally available Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus spp.)