Small scale mushroom culltivation

Mushroom cultivation fits in very well with sustainable farming and has several advantages:

• It uses agricultural waste products
• A high production per surface area can be obtained
• After picking, the spent substrate is still a good soil conditioner

This Agrodok contains detailed information on how to grow three kinds of mushrooms: oyster, shiitake and wood ear mushrooms. These mushrooms are rather easy to grow on a small scale. Cultivation of the common white button mushroom and of the rice straw mushroom is very different and will therefore be dealt with in another Agrodok. Much of the information presented here is from my book “Mushroom cultivation and appropriate technologies for commercial mushroom growers”. By concentrating on three mushroom species only and on relatively simple technologies, I hope readers can obtain a sustainable profit from mushroom growing. Bram van Nieuwenhuijzen was the director of the Mushroom Growers’ Training Centre (nowadays known as C Point) at Horst, The Netherlands, for a number of years. He is currently involved in mushroom cultivation projects in several countries as an adviser through PUM Netherlands Senior Experts in The Hague.

Peter Oei Chairman ECO Consult Foundation and Visiting Professor Fujian Agricultural University