Saturday, March 16, 2013

IMPORTANCE OF MUSHROOM CULTIVATION IN BANGLADESH

1 MUSHROOM
Mushrooms are the members of higher fungi, belonging to the class Ascomycetes (e,g, Morchella, Tuber, etc) and basidiomycetes (e.g, Agaricus, Auricularia, Tremella, etc).They are characterized by having heterotropic mode of  nutrition. According to Chang and Hayes (1978) edible mushroom refers to both epigeous and hypogeous fruiting bodies of macroscopic fungi that are already commercially cultivated or grown in half culture process or implemented under controlled conditions. They are rich in protein and constitute a valuable source of supplementary food. Some of them are deadly poisonous, for example Amanita verna, A. virosa,etc.
Although mushroom is a very nutritious food it is a fungal plant in the scientific term. It is possible to be cultivated all the year round everywhere in towns and villages. It also does not need large amount of space for cultivation. Only a little bit of open air is necessary.6 spawns can be placed on each mm. area. Every spawn costs 8tk.From one spawn 300gm mushroom worth 33tk can be produced. No extra expense is necessary for this. Maintenance of three times a day is enough. Anybody of any family can be involved in mushroom production. Their other business is not hampered for this. Mushroom production overall is a profitable sector. In the world 15 types of mushroom are cultivated at home and 5 types are cultivated in the field. In our country only oyster mushroom, straw mushroom and ear mushrooms are produced. Oyster mushroom is the most popular because it grows all the year round and so all over the markets this is available. But in Chinese restaurants Button mushroom is used. The specialists opine that as button mushroom is produced chemically it is bad for health but oyster mushroom is good for health because it is produced organically.


2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
 For the first time, cultivation of white button mushroom (A. bisporus) started in France around 1630 (Atkins, 1983). In the beginning, it was grown in open conditions. Around 1810, a French gardener (Chambry) cultivated them in underground queries in Paris. The possibility of continuous production was demonstrated by Callow (183) when he cultivated A. bisporus in a cropping house in England. He was able to produce about 1.5 lb/sq. ft. By 1925, mushroom was grown in caves in Holland. The U.S.A. took up this work in the late 19th century. After the seocnd world war mushroom cultivation spread in about 80 countries. Nowadays, edible mushrooms are eaten in Africa, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Europe, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afganistan, Tibet and China.
Distribution of edible mushrooms in India is given in Table 18.5. The common mushroom A. bisporus is abundant is cattle fields in Punjab. It is used by many people. The morel (M. rsculenta) is found in Kashmir and hills of Kumaon region in U.P Bhoteans consume Hyposylon vernicosum. Kashmiri guchhi (Morchella spp.) is very popular which is sold even at the rate of Rs. 1000/kg dries mushroom.
In India, mushroom cultivation started long before a century, as the Volvariella valvacea was cultivated on paddy straw. Therefore, this mushroom is also known as the paddy straw mushroom. In 1950s, and attempt was made to cultivate mushroom is Coimbatore (Thomas et al., 1943). In 1962, Pleurotus flabellatus (Dhingri coroyester) was successfully cultivated in Mysore. Besides many attempts, its cultivation could not be popularized upto the late 1960. For the first time an attempt was made for artificial cultivation of A. bisporus at Solan (Himachal Pradesh) where synthetic compost preparation technology was developed, by using horse dung and wheat straw. Rapid development took place at this centre. Modern Spawn Laboratory and Air Conditioned Cropping rooms were constituted under the guidance of and expert from Food and Agricultural Organizations (FAO)
From 1974. a coordinated scheme was launched at Solan, Banglore, Ludhiana and New Delhi. FAO deputed its expert for improving the cultivation technology. Dr. W. A. Hayes came to India, who recommended for incorporation of molasses and brewer’s grain in the preparation of synthetic compost. This increased the mushroom yield. In 1977, State Department of Horticulture (H. P.) launched a project of Rs. 1.27 core, under which a Central Mother Unit (CMU) for bulk pasteurization of compost and casing soli was established. C.M.U. supplies about 80 tones of pasteurized compost per month to growers in Solan, Shimla and Sirmur districts (Sohi, 1988) during 1966-70 mushroom cultivation was introduced in Kashmir valley, where by the end of 1975, the number of growers increased to 90. This took up its cultivation as cottage industry in Srinagar and Jammu region.
In 1974, Uttar Pradesh department of Agriculture (UPDA) started mushroom cultivation on exploratory trial at Vivekanand Parvatiya Krishi Anushandhan (VPKA), Almora. U.P. Govt. also sanctioned a project for mushroom cultivation to the Department of Botany, Kumaun University, Nainital. At Almora Center, two crops in a year are raised (i,e in February-April and September-November) in natural conditions. The compost is prepared from agro-wastes i.e. straw of wheat, barley and oat and dehulled corn cobs, grasses, fresh leaves, etc.


3 IMPORTANCE OF MUSHROOM CULTIVATION IN BANGLADESH                                                                                                                                                                                  
Bangladesh is an over populated country. Where most of the people are living under the poverty line. For an over populated country supplying food to the person is a great challenge. So, cultivation of mushroom can remove the food shortage & nutritional problem. Beside there it keeps the environment clean. A healthy man should eat 200-250 gm vegetables daily where the persons of developed country eat about 400-500gm vegetables. Because vegetables contain vitamins, minerals and fibers.  But we eat only 40-45gm vegetables except potato. So about 87% persons are suffering in malnutrition. 
To escape the country from this situation large amount of vegetables are cultivated and eaten daily. We know that, there are two approaches of production increase-
 (I)    Horizontal method &
 (II)  Vertical method
The population incensement rate in our country is very high so the lands are decreased. Every year about 80000 hectare lands are decreased. So, vegetable production increase can be occurred by vertical method that in only possible for mushrooms.

4 ADVANTAGES
The climate and weather of our country is very nice. Following advantage are found for mushroom cultivation-
No need of cultivation land.
Can cultivate inside home.s
Can cultivate in rack.
In a short period (7-10 days) mushroom can be found that is impossible for any other crops. 

4.1 Economic Benefits Mushroom Cultivation: The economic advantages of mushroom cultivation are given below-
Very few money is required.
The invested money can be returned in a short time.
Working time is low.

4.2 Social Benefits of Mushroom Cultivation: The social benefits of mushroom cultivation are given below-
Malnutrition can be removed.
Disease costs are decreased.
Incensement of production ability.
Using the manpower.
Unemployment problem is removed.
Mushroom cultivation is very useful for women.

4.3 Environmental Benefits of Mushroom Cultivation: Environmental Benefits of Mushroom Cultivation are given below-
All of the vegetables that we eat daily are cultivated by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are very harmful for the environment. But there are no pesticides and fertilizers are required for mushroom cultivation.
The components that are used for mushroom cultivation are waste product.

2 comments:

  1. Hey! I was wondering to do mushroom cultivation, so was wanted to know the benefits, through this post I was very pleased to know all these benefits. Thank you for sharing.
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  2. Great article. Thanks for sharing. Apart from this you should read this Medicinal Mushrooms article. These properties are also what make these powerful fungi so effective against cancer. Some medicinal mushrooms are known to be hepatoprotective, as well as glycemic herbs, helping to regulate blood sugar. No wonder they have such a long history of medicinal use! For more information Check out this Medicinal Mushrooms article.

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