Introduction to Mushroom Cultivation in Sri Lanka

Click Here to Learn About Requirements For Mushroom Cultivation

Mushroom cultivation in Sri Lanka is mostly done at household level as a small business. Cultivators of mushrooms are scattered around Sri Lanka. Even though there is a good market demand for good quality mushrooms most cultivators fail meet the demand and required quality most of the time due to lack of knowledge. Mushroom cultivation is a profitable business if done correctly.

What are Mushrooms

Mushroom is a part of structure of certain fungi. Fungi belongs to the kingdom fungi. Organisms of kingdom Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that include microorganisms such as yeast and Mold. Fungi is categorized under four major groups.

1. Zygomycota
2. Ascomycota 
3. Basidiomycota 
4. Deuteromycota

Most common mushrooms belong to the group Basidiomycota. Mushroom is a structure developed by Fungi to store spores which is used for reproduction.

Mushrooms were taken as a food by human for thousands of years and these mushrooms were grown naturally. Commercial cultivation of mushrooms begun in last few decades as the demand for mushrooms increased. In Sri Lanka demand for edible mushrooms has increased in last few years.

Nutritional Value of Mushroom

per 100 g of fresh mushroom

Water      - 91 g

Energy    - 13 cal

Protein    - 2.5 

Fat          - 3 g

Calcium - 20 mg

Iron - 10 mg

Thiamine - 120 µg

Riboflavin - 500 µg

Niacin - 5.8 µg

Vitamin C - 3 µg

Commercially Cultivated Mushrooms in Sri Lanka

Common Sri Lankan Name                                                     Scientific Name

Piduru Bimmal                                                                      Volvariella volvacea

Muthubeli Hathu                                                                     Pleurotus ostreatus

Boththam Hathu                                                                     Agaricus bisporus

Shitake Bimmal                                                                       Lentinus edodes

Abaloni Bimmal                                                                 Pleurotus cystidiosus

Among these mushroom types Muthubeli Bimmal (Most Popular) and Piduru Bimmal are commonly cultivated.

Edible Mushrooms Native to Sri Lanka

Uru paha Bimmal - Lentinus giganteus

Uru paha bimmal is a mushroom species native to Sri Lanka. This mushroom species has taste of pork. Hence the name Uru (Pig) paha bimmal. This species is the largest mushroom in Sri Lanka. Uru paha bimmal grow naturally around roots of large trees like jack (Artocarpus heterophyllus). This species has shown promising results of growing under artificial environment.

Read more about Lentinus giganteus

Apart from this species mushroom types such as Mawali Hathu, Indalolu, Monara Bimmal, Kiri Bimmal are some mushroom species which grow naturally in Sri Lanka.

Pest of Mushrooms in Sri Lanka

Pest attacks to mushroom cultivation create major economic losses. especially insect species such as Drosophila harm mushrooms. These pest attacks are visible when mushrooms appear in transparent or decayed nature.

Control Methods

Once infected it is difficult to control the pests of mushroom. So, it is really important to take actions to prevent the pest attacks from the beginning of the cultivation. 

• Keep Mushroom cultivation equipment clean
• Don't use same cultivation room to keep differently aged mushrooms
• Remove and destroy any infected bags from the cultivating area
• Harvest at the correct maturity
• Only use sprayers to moist the cropping room - do not use hands
• If the attack is severe remove all the bags from the cottage and use a recommended insecticide to treat the infected area - keep the cottage close for 24 hours after treating 
• As a insecticide use crushed leave of the plant Gandapana(Lantana camara)
• Use dried crushed leaves of Gandapana mixed with growing medium 
• Use fresh leaves of Gandapana plant to prepare liquid spray - spray to infected bags 
• Mix 200 g of crushed fresh leaves with 1 l of water to prepare spray

To control the mites use sulfur - mix 8 g of sulfur with 1 l of water

• Do this after harvesting of all the mushrooms

Preservation of Harvested Mushrooms

As mushrooms contain more than 90% of water, they have less shelf - life. If mushrooms are kept in open environment they can dry rapidly due to loss of water. This will also result in reduction of weight of mushroom. So it is really important to preserve mushrooms immediately after harvesting. 

• Muthubeli Bimmal can be kept fresh in a cold place up to 12 hours after harvest
• This can be kept inside a refrigerator, packed in aerated polythene bags up to 2-3 days
• To keep this species up to 4-6 weeks, boil the mushrooms for three minutes and store in deep freezer
• Stripped mushrooms can be boiled with water vapor for 3 minutes and then sun dried to preserve for 6 months  
• Piduru Bimmal is less preservable. It can be kept up to several hours after harvest in a cold envorinment
• Can be kept up to 24 hours in a refrigerator

Characteristics of Poisonous Mushrooms 

• Mushrooms having dark color and strong aroma
• Mushrooms which repel insects
• Avoid eating any mushroom if your not sure about it

Image Source - www.wildfooduk.com

Simple Tricks to Identify the Poisonous Mushrooms at Home

• Once you boil or crush mushrooms with onions, if the onion turns into purple color that mushroom can be poisonous
• Poisonous mushrooms turn silvers spoons black once touched with each other

 Advantages of Mushroom Cultivation 

• Good return on investment
• Availability of low cost raw material
• Ability to start the cultivation within a small space
• Ability to start the cultivation with prevailing infrastructure facilities (Room inside house) 
• Harvesting is possible in short duration of time

Information on Training Centers for Mushroom Cultivation in Sri Lanka

We'll discuss about Cultivation Methods and Cultivation of Piduru Bimmal and Muthubeli Bimmal on next post

References

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare ., 2009. Bimmal Wagawa. Kandy: Department of Agriculture.