Merit Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Soil Science

032-037

Authors: Kanta Bokaria, Siva Kumar Balsundram, Indira Bhattarai and Krishna Kaphle

Mushroom is now considered crucial component for food safety and security. The phytonutrients in mushroom are now sought after food items. Micro-economy and community engagement in mushroom cultivation is helping rural economy. Urban and semi urban cultivation is also gaining popularity for various edible plants including mushroom and Calocybe indica an edible mushroom, native to India was first described by Purkayastha and Chandra (1947). Its milky white colour and robust appearance is appealing to all and provided with easy, reliable, renewable method of growing, its popularity is bound to increase. In this work the first two authors worked to develop the model for easy production. Findings reveal that, cylindrical polythene bag beds of 15 x 30 cm size were found useful for commercial cultivation. Clay loam soil (pH 8.4) was found to be the best casting soil which recorded 388.0 g for mushrooms per bed. Incubating the beds after casing in a partially sunken 3 feet deep polythene chamber lined with high density sky blue coloured polythene sheet as roofing material was found to be effective. Inside this chamber temperature range was 30-35°C, relative humidity of more than 85 percent and a light intensity of 1600 to 3200 lux at least for 6 h during day time was determined to be best suitable. Commercial production techniques for Milky mushroom, Calocybe indica recorded yield of 356.5 to 375.0 g of mushrooms per 250 g of paddy straw (dry weight) which accounts to 142.6 to 150.0 percent bio-efficiency. Substrates like maize stalks, sorghum stalks, vetiver grass and straw were also found to be suitable for growing Calocybe indica. However, paddy straw the commonly employed material showed relatively less yield. Substrate pre-treatment namely; steaming for 30 min. or soaking in hot water (80° C) for 60 min, are recommended for commercial purpose. While chemical substrate treatment (with Carbendazim 75 ppm + formalin 500 ppm for 16 h) was effective in viability and preservation. Mushroom grow competing and utilizing resources around it in special environment and their commercial conditions creation is importantly for science and society. Keywords: Milky Mushroom (Calocybe indica), Appropriate Growing Method, Science and Society.