Attending the Green Heritage plant festival in Siolim had one more
advantage for me. It brought me into contact with Mr Miguel Braganza,
an agricultural officer of the Goa Government. It was through him that
I learnt of a two-day course on mushrooms to be conducted by the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Ela Farm, Old Goa in the
last week of August.
This programme also marked the beginning of my experience in getting
around on my own. For, although the course was conducted in Goa itself
I had never been to Ela Farm nor did I know anyone at the programme.
Mr Braganza had informed me that participants would be offered free
accommodation on the campus. However, it was not compulsory to stay
there. I assumed that most people would avail of the accommodation
facilities offered since late evening transport is not very good in
Goa. At any rate I enjoy camping out and so I asked my parents if I
could spend the night on the campus. They agreed. My assumption however
proved wrong as I turned out to be the only residential participant!
Anyway, on the morning of 24th August, after taking directions from my
dad, I left for the ICAR at Old Goa which is about 22 kms from my home.
I arrived there without any difficulty. The ICAR is located within Ela
farm. At the gate I had to fill in a gate pass. Down the right lane was
the ICAR office. On either side of the road were coconut, guava and
chickoo plantations. Further down was a small office which looked more
like a lab with various specimens of preserved mushroom. I enquired
about the course with the man in charge and was directed to the Farmers
Training Centre.
Mr Miguel Braganza and Mr Oscar-the two persons conducting the
course-were already there and so were some of the participants. We were
first made to register our names for the course and immediately after
and to my total surprise we were informed that each of us would receive
a stipend of Rs.500 for attending the course. This appears to be a sort
of bonus or incentive which is provided to the participants and is
meant to cover expenses for transport, food, etc.
I noticed that all the other participants (there were thirty-three
other students) were older than me. Most of them were farmers, so all
the people who gave talks either spoke part English and part Konkani,
or if the lecturers spoke only English then Oscar would translate into
Konkani.
The course which basically comprised lectures and demonstrations
started with a talk by the tall, thin, long-haired Nandakumar Kamat.
His first question was: "What do you want to cultivate mushrooms for?
Kitchen gardening, small scale production or large scale export?"
Depending on your objectives you can decide on the variety and the
quantity, he told us. His talk included slides of different varieties
of mushrooms, poisonous and non poisonous.
The talk was lengthy but very interesting. It ended well past lunch
time and most of the participants including myself were happy to go
straight to a meal at the FTC canteen where a delicious fish curry
thali could be purchased for just Rs.6.
The second session began at three in the afternoon. There were two
talks in this session, the first by a scientist from the ICAR who spoke
on pests and diseases that attack mushrooms. Among the problem areas he
mentioned insects, fungi, bacteria and improper management.
Unfortunately most of the remedies he suggested were limited to
spraying of insecticides and pesticides such as lindane, malathion
dichlorose, copper sulphate or citronella oil. To be fair, he also laid
stress on proper management and hygiene as an effective way to reduce
diseases. Since none of us had ever grown mushrooms before there were
not many questions or doubts raised at the end of his lecture.
Then there was a talk by a woman who explained to us the nutritional
value of mushrooms. For half an hour she spoke on the low fat and sugar
content of mushrooms and how mushrooms prevent pain in joints of bones,
tooth decay and bleeding gums. It made me feel that I should make
mushrooms my staple diet!
The programme for the day ended at 6 p.m. That's when I was surprised
to discover that everyone was going home and I was the only residential
participant. I decided to stay the night anyway since the organisers
told me that adequate arrangements had been made for anyone wishing to
do so.
I spent the evening and early in the morning the next day looking
around the campus. I noticed that the ICAR had a small nursery, a
flower garden, a small fish pond, pens for small animals such as
rabbits and chickens, cattle sheds and vast paddy fields. There was
also an orchard with a variety of fruit trees such as mango, chickoo,
coconut palms etc.
In the midst of all this greenery were the residential buildings with
the canteen in between. I occupied one of the rooms on the first floor
of the four-storey building. It was a small room, with two beds, a few
lockers, a table and a mirror. Since there was no one else staying the
night, the watchman was asked to stay with me for company. The canteen
served good and cheap meals. I had already eaten there in the afternoon
with the others. For the night the cook prepared some fish curry rice
for me. The next morning I had a breakfast of bread and vegetables for
three rupees only. That night, not having much to do, the watchman and
I decided to walk up the hill at the back of the campus, at the top of
which was a temple.
Most of the second day was conducted by Oscar. Oscar's presentation was
more of a practical exercise. He gave very practical information on how
to grow mushrooms and interspersed his talk with slides and live
demonstrations. He showed us the inoculation and culture room for
tissue culture as well as the ultraviolet tube where the mother spawn
is prepared. Rushing up and down the lab and the lecture hall we were
shown how straw is boiled, how the mushroom bags are filled, and so on.
We were allowed to actively participate and fill in the bags ourselves.
All the participants enjoyed Oscar's session and wished it could have
been longer.
None of the participants had any experience with growing mushrooms for
commercial purposes so Oscar had invited two people who grew mushrooms
for the local market as well as for export purposes to address us. They
had been growing mushrooms for the past one year, selling them fresh or
dried according to the demand and they gave us very practical
information based on their personal experience. They said that they
filled two hundred bags of straw everyday. They told us of the problems
they faced with pests (mainly rats) and diseases and also the
difficulties they initially faced when selling mushrooms. The programme
finally concluded with a speech by the Director of the Farmers'
Training Centre who told us about the general activities of the FTC and
the ICAR.
Some of the students took spawn-filled bottles home. I didn't, because
I knew I wouldn't be in a position to get into action immediately as my
travel plans for getting out of Goa for the next few months were
already underway.
So although I didn't really get into the act of mushrooms-growing, I
learnt much and also made many friends.
Field Work Notes:
How to Grow Mushrooms
There are many varieties of edible mushrooms, of which the oyster and
button mushrooms are the most popular with both the mushroom
cultivators and the general public.
Mushrooms can be eaten by anyone including children since they are
easily digested and absorbed by the body into the bloodstream within
two to three hours. They contain iron, vitamins, calcium and protein.
They are especially good for pregnant mothers, and diabetic and blood
pressure patients. Mushrooms have medicinal properties and are known to
reduce heart, liver and blood diseases including cholesterol and
stomach cancer.
Mushrooms can be profitably grown using little investment. However one
has to master the techniques and follow all the procedures and
requirements very carefully. One does not need land to become a
mushroom cultivator for one can grow mushrooms even in one's own house.
Climate: Mushrooms require a temperature of 20-32o Celsius and about
35-90% humidity. They also require adequate ventilation, diffused light
and semi-darkness. Too much light makes mushrooms dark in colour.
If the room temperature increases above 32oC, it should be decreased by
hanging wet sacks around the place. However the sacks should be first
sterilized using savlon, formalin or dettol to avoid fungi or bacteria
entering the room. If the temperature decreases below 20oC, then a 200W
bulb (for a small room) should be lit to generate heat.
Spawn: Mushrooms are grown from spawn. The colour of good spawn is
milky white with a sweet smell or no smell. The spawn should be
compact, white on all sides and cottony. If it is yellow, it means that
the spawn is old. Any other coloured patches seen on the spawn signify
contaminant fungi in the spawn. Spawn should be maximum 18 to 20 days
old.
To prepare mother spawn, one needs good quality jowar, wheat or gram.
The seed should be of uniform size, good quality, free from pests and
diseases and dry. The grain should be washed, all hollow grains should
be removed and the remaining boiled for one hour so that it is half
cooked. While boiling some formalin or savlon should be added to
disinfect the grain. The grain is then spread on a disinfected muslin
cloth and mixed with calcium carbonate. It is then filled into bottles
which are tightly corked using nonabsorbent cotton. The bottles are
then put into a pressure cooker.
The inoculation or the culture room for tissue culture was also shown
to us. This room should be about 2.25 m in height and 1.25 m in length.
Two tubes i.e. an ultra-violet tube and a normal tube light are used. A
spirit lamp is also used. One can produce up to six generations from
one bottle of mother spawn with the help of tissue culture. After six
generations the strength of the spawn decreases and the yield of the
mushrooms will be less.
Substratum: Paddy straw is the main substratum used for growing
mushrooms-it contains cellulose and lignin, both of which are necessary
for the growth of mushrooms. However many other kinds of substrata are
also used, for example, saw dust, sacks, banana leaves, dry mango
leaves, coconut leaves, sugarcane, wild grass, rice husk, etc.
The paddy straw must be carefully selected. It should be brittle,
yellow or golden brown in colour and not older than 6 months. The straw
should be dried in the sun for several days, stored if necessary in an
air-tight container and used within two months. The ratio of paddy
straw to mushroom spawn should be 1 kg "prepared" straw to 4% spawn.
Procedure: First the straw must be prepared. The straw should be cut to
3-5 cm pieces. It should then be filled in cloth bags and soaked in
water (1 kg straw to 10 litres water) for 10 hours. The straw should be
weighted down in the water so that no part of it remains above the
level of water.
The next stage is pasteurization. Water must be boiled to a temperature
of 80 to 85oC. When bubbles appear, the soaked straw, surrounded by the
cloth bags, should be weighted down and fully immersed in water. The
bubbles will disappear when the straw is immersed and then reappear.
Thirty minutes after the reappearance of bubbles the straw should be
removed. It should be drained of water and cooled at room temperature,
then spread out on a clean surface and dried for two hours.
The moisture content of the straw should not exceed 60%. To judge the
moisture content one should hold some straw between one's fingers and
squeeze tightly. If only one drop of water comes out, then the moisture
content is correct.
Polythene or polypropylene bags are now required to fill the straw
into. The bags should be approximately 35 x 50 cm and should weigh 150
gms each. Before using them, they should be washed with savlon or
dettol or formalin. Four strings should be tied together at one end
which should be placed at the bottom of the bag. The four free ends
must be held outside the bag. The bag can now be filled. First a 5 cm
layer of straw should be put in and the straw pressed lightly against
the bottom. Mushroom spawn should then be spread over it. Then another
10 cm layer of straw, over which the spawn should be spread and so on
till one reaches the top of the bag. Finally it must be covered with a
final 5 cm layer of straw, and the four pieces of string and the bag
must be tied together. The bags can either be kept on the ground or
hung in the room. Hanging them enables one to get at the mushrooms from
the bottom of the bag easily.
The following day, 30 to 35 holes should be made in each bag with a
sterile needle. The bags should be kept in darkness, with very little
ventilation allowed to them, for 15 days. The bags should then be moved
to another room. Here they should get four hours of diffused light and
cross ventilation. After one and a half days the substrate should be
sprayed with water three times a day with a shower pointing upwards so
that the water falls on the bags like rain. On the following day small
mushrooms, the size of pinheads will appear. Two days later fully grown
mushrooms will appear. The mushrooms should not be pulled out because
the substrata will also be pulled out with it. Instead they should be
cut or twisted and broken off from the base. If the substrata is dry
the bag should be given a quick dip in water. Otherwise continue
spraying with water. The second crop of mushrooms will reappear one
week later. The process can be continued upto 4 times. Then one has to
start afresh. This is because after 4 crops the substrata begin to
attract disease and get contaminated.
Pests and Diseases: Mushrooms are easily attacked by pests and diseases
and therefore require utmost care and good management. Of the two well
known types of mushrooms, the button mushroom is more prone to disease
whereas the oyster mushroom is hardier.
Insects which attack mushrooms are the Scearid fly, the Phosid fly,
Spring Tails (small insects like grasshoppers) and mites. To prevent
insects from attacking mushrooms it is best to keep the mushroom bags
at least one foot above the ground. One can burn sulphur in the room
before seeding the mushrooms. Citronella oil mixed with water can also
be used for spraying on the bags. It is absolutely essential to
maintain the highest standards of hygiene to prevent attack by insects.
Bacteria and nematodes are other causes for worry. Bacteria occur when
there is too much humidity and this shows in a wet rot or a brown
blotch. To avoid this problem it is essential to constantly monitor the
humidity level and maintain it as required. To prevent the occurrence
of nematodes, the substrata should be constantly changed-it should
never be older than six months to one year. The straw must be carefully
selected and should be disinfected thoroughly before use. 100 gms of
potassium permanganate, or 20 ml of formalin should be sprayed on the
bags if the disease should appear.