Introduction to Mushrooms Farming

Hello, friends! Want to earn a huge profit by starting your own business plan at low & minimum investment, then the business of mushroom farming is appropriate for you to choose. Starting a mushroom farm does not require too much capital or space. In fact, numbers of growers earning a lot by following this business plan.

Mushroom cultivation in India is more encouraged by the govt by providing subsidies to farmers for mushroom cultivation. As this business does not create any type of pollution. And because of this, large numbers of growers are following this mushroom farming business & earns millions of money from this agricultural business plan.  You can easily start this farming mushroom at home with less capital, less space and less time and earn a lot from it in a very short time period. One can even start this business at small scale rather than going for large-scale business.

Mushroom types

How many types of Mushrooms had you seen? There is various type of edible mushroom. However, in India, four types of mushrooms are cultivated. These four types of mushroom are

1. Button Mushroom
2. Portobello Mushroom
3. Dhingri (Oyster) Mushroom and
4. Paddy Straw Mushroom

Of all these, the Button Mushrooms are the most popular & is cultivated widely because of its high market potential.

Let us learn how to start mushroom farming profitability in India or anywhere else?

Health Benefits of Mushroom

What are the advantages of mushroom? Eating mushroom is beneficial in many ways because mushrooms are high in nutritional value. Let us learn some of these health benefits of Mushroom.

1. Mushrooms help in building strong immune system
2. Mushrooms are high in nutritional value & hence helps in prevention of heart diseases
3. Mushrooms are also helpful in preventing some of the cancers like Breast cancer prevention
4. Mushrooms are also helpful in Weight Loss
5. Mushrooms are rich in protein, vitamins, & fibers. So, mushrooms are also beneficial to the diabetic patients
6. Mushrooms also contain vitamins B2 & B3, increase the metabolism.
7. As mushrooms are rich in fiber & carbohydrates, prevent stomach disease.
8. Mushrooms are also a good source of folic acid that found only in non-veg & is helpful in increasing the hemoglobin level in the body.

   Mushrooms Nutrition Value per 100 gm of Serving
   PRINCIPLE	NUTRIENT VALUE	%
   Protein	3.1 gm	6 %
   Total Fat	0.3 gm	0 %
   Dietary Fiber	1 gm	4 %
   Carbohydrates	3.3 gm	4 %
   Cholesterol	–	Zero calorie food
   VITAMINS
   Vitamin A	0 IU	0 %
   Vitamin C	1.6 mg	3 %
   Vitamin E	0 mg	0 %
   Vitamin K	–	0 %
   Riboflavin	0.3 mg	16 %
   Niacin	2.5 mg	13 %
   Thiamin	0.1 mg	2 %
   Pantothenic acid	1 mg	10 %
   Folates	11.2 mcg	4 %
   MINERALS
   Iron	0.2 mg	1 %
   Calcium	2.2 mg	0 %
   Magnesium	6.5 mg	3 %
   Copper	o.3 mg	11 %
   Manganese	–	0 %
   Zinc	0.5 mcg	2 %
   Selenium	6.7 mcg	7 %

   Along with 22 mushrooms calories. So, this is all about the button mushroom nutrition value. 

   Agroclimatic Condition for Mushroom Farming

   Before starting mushroom cultivation, the choice of a suitable place is the very important task. Mushrooms are very fragile in nature, so does not need too much sunlight. A temp. ranging between 18 ‘C to 35 ‘C is considered as the ideal one & favorable is for mushroom farming profitability.
   Also, a good moisture level is more beneficial in enhancing the good development of mushrooms. For this, humidity of 85 to 90 % of air should be maintained.

   What Season Do Mushrooms Grow?

   
   

   

   When does mushroom season start? is a silly question asked by the new mushrooms farmers Generally, the time from May to October is considered best suitable for mushroom farming. However, you can cultivate it for twelve months, making the necessary environment and atmosphere. Both of them used to cultivate white button mushroom because of its high market potential.Mushrooms can be cultivated throughout the years in some regions like Jammu, & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh along with some hilly area of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh & Eastern state like Mizoram… Where the atmosphere temp. always remains, below than 35 ‘C. In those low temperate area, two to three crops can be easily obtained throughout the year.
   However, seasonal growers used to cultivate mushroom in the winter season. They just grow fresh & sell it fresh.
9. Compost preparation
10. Spawning
11. Casing
12. Watering
13. Harvesting
14. Post Harvesting; care & management
Let, learn all those steps in short.

How to compost for Mushrooms

Compost preparation in mushrooms cultivation is an important task because it directly impacts on the production of button mushrooms. As healthy & nutritious is your compost, higher is your button mushroom production. So, always prepare a healthy & nutritious compost for mushroom growing.
For mushroom compost preparation, paddy straw, wheat straw & castor straw are most used. The straw can be purchased easily from the market at a very low cost. Now turn the straw into a compost. Prepare a composting bin for storing compost & maintaining its moisture level. Then add this straw into this composting bin along with some gypsum to raise the weight of mushrooms.
Water that filled composting bin for about two to three days so that it acquires a moisture level, usually about more than 60%. Moisture helps this compost in fast decaying & being healthy compost. Add some Urea to this at the time of drying it to increase the Nitrogen content of compost. Higher nitrogen content definitely leads you to good production of mushrooms.
Let dry this prepared compost for about two to five days, so that ammonia content in it get out of it. After that, mushroom spawn should be added to it for growing mushrooms.

Mushroom Spawn

How to make mushroom spawn at home? is not too difficult task. For this, you’d need some seed. you can use wheat seeds or Jowar seeds for this; preparing spawn for mushroom cultivation. However, you can easily by quality spawn from any lab because labs are the best source of getting a quality spawn.
After getting the quality mushroom spawn, mixed it well with that prepared compost. Check the moisture content of compost, it should be more than 50% for fast & healthy development of mycelium of Spawn. Fill that compost (well mixed with spawn) in spawn bags (about 20 kg each), & keep in the dark room.

Mushroom Casing

A casing of the compost filled bags should be done, it will help in increasing water holding capacity. Mix coco coir along with slight gypsum into it. Coir enhances the water holding capacity of your compost bags. You can go for bulk casing method in your mushroom farming.
Spread the mixed prepared casing on the compost bags. About four to five kg coir casing is sufficient enough per unit bag of 20 kg compost bag. Spread as much as casing so that a layer of 1-inch casing is formed on the compost bags.
If you are cultivating mushrooms commercially, then maintain the temp. of room at about 18 to 21 ‘C, so that case runs faster & you will able to get mushroom production in short time.

Irrigation in Mushroom Farming

Mushroom plants are water-loving, so require more water because are fragile in nature. A regular watering is should be done to the mushroom plant so that they remain fragile & does not get tough.
Water those mushroom plant regularly, at least thrice a day. Give lite water to your mushrooms, because hard & casual watering will remove the new and upcoming mushrooms from the bad. It is a good idea to give water them by using sprinklers. Since sprinklers throw water too lightly & help in spreading it thoroughly on the compost bad.
Always check the moisture level of the casing, compost in your compost filled bags. It should not raise more than 7o% for compost & about 85% for the casing. Allow fresh air in your rooms in control condition so that your mushrooms grow healthy rather than becoming poisonous.

Does Mushrooms Requires Sunlight?

Mushrooms are a fungus, & does not carry chlorophyll in them. because of this, mushrooms do not need sunlight for photosynthesis process to grow. So, try to keep your room as dark as possible for good development of spawn in mushroom production. However, little amount of light will not harm mushroom growth too much. So, for regular observation of your mushrooms, use LED light for mushroom growing, easily available in the market.

Care & Management



Mushrooms are fragile food & become poisonous, if not cared properly. So, below are some suggestions to take care.
1. If you are preparing mushroom spawn by yourself only, then, to make the necessary moisture for Mushroom Spawns, keep sprinkling water every 2 to 3 days
2. Pay special attention to cleanliness in the room. Always wash your hands thoroughly with antiseptic or soap before touching your mushrooms spawn.
3. Your compost should not be infected. Infected compost leads to failure in mushroom cultivation.
4. Do not enter the room with the shoes, slippers, etc
5. Mushrooms can be prone to spoilage by insect-moths and other harmful germs, which can be ruined your complete crop. In such circumstances, the spraying of pesticides can save your crop.
6. Try to keep close your all times because if sunlight reaches in your room, it may cause to moisture low furtherly low production of mushrooms.  Use wet sheets on windows so that they can not lose moisture in any way
7. Must take while picking of your mushrooms. Pick them softly & store them in a cool place (about 20 ‘C) because high temp causes the bad quality mushrooms, less in demand.
Take care of all mentioned above ways to increase production of your mushrooms

Mushroom Harvesting

In a very short time period, about two months of composting, you will be able to harvest these healthily grown mushrooms. Usually, first harvesting is done to collect only overgrown mushrooms.
Take care while mushroom picking. These healthy mushroom should be picked with hand, softly. Mushrooms are fragile in nature. So, if do not pick them softly, then their quality could not be maintained, & sometimes are sold even. Consumers always look for fresh, healthy & white button mushrooms, and also pay much for it. For picking them carefully, you can use skilled labor.
In mushrooms cultivation, after picking those overgrown mushrooms within a month, you will be able to harvest them three to four times. You can pick them at regular interval like once a week or at an interval of ten days. However, it is a good idea to pick them on the basis of their growth.

When Are Mushrooms Bad?

When are mushrooms bad? For mushrooms, it is too important to maintain their quality because bad quality mushrooms do not earn you much money like those healthy & fresh mushrooms. Mushrooms become bad when:
1. Are not picked properly or
2. Over-watered
3. Miss cared in storing them
Button Mushrooms become slightly darker from white color, an odor observed from them, turn to pale yellow because of overwatering & hand touch. Any virus or microorganisms are the main cause for Mushrooms bad.

Mushrooms Production

In commercial mushroom farming, one can easily obtain about 10 to 15 kg of button mushroom yield per square foot. And, in the market you can easily sell your fresh mushroom at a too high rate, 150 & more than it depending on your consumers demand.
Taking an avg. 10 kg button mushroom yield per square foot & selling it at very low cost of mushroom per kg, 150 Rs. per kg. Then, even you can earn about 1500 Rs per sq. foot area. What amazing is it? However, your mushroom farming income depends on your farm management skilled, care & management of your farm.
And, if you are cultivating oyster mushroom rather than button mushroom than also you can achieve about 12 kg of oyster mushroom yield per square foot. In the market, oyster mushroom price per kg is about 200 Rs.

Bottom Line

Friends!! Today, mushroom farming is one of the major source of employment for numbers of people. In fact, millions of people are earning a great profit by cultivating mushroom. Many people, with low capital, less space & minimum care are performing small-scale commercial mushroom growing business & are also earning a lot from it.
I assure that all the above mention details is practical based & is truthful to start mushroom farming profitability. 
If you have any quarry regarding this information or something is misregarding mushroom cultivation, then friends, let us know by commenting below. We will try to solve your problem as soon as possible.