Assessing the current status and potential of mushroom cultivation in NE India

Assessing the current status and potential of mushroom cultivation in NE India Peter E Mortimer Asanka Bandara Gautum Baruah 1. Introduction Globally there has been a marked increase in the consumption of mushrooms, resulting in a growing demand for both wild and cultivated mushroom species. The past three decades of research have shown the importance of mushrooms as a food group, providing excellent nutrition and contributing towards improved immune systems. As such, the cultivation of mushrooms is becoming popular as a means of rural development, providing alternative, sustainable sources of income and household nutrition for rural and impoverished communities.

There are a number of ongoing programs in SE Asia currently implementing training and demonstration practices for the cultivation of mushrooms at the village level, and it is at this level, and in this context, that the team from the Kunming Institute of Botany, led by Prof Peter Mortimer, and assisted by Asanka Bandara, visited NE India. Facilitated by Balipara Foundation, Peter Mortimer, Asanka Bandara and Gautum Baruah visited a number of sites in Assam, Nagaland, and Meghalaya to assess the current status, challenges, and practices of mushroom cultivation in the region. This knowledge will help guide any future endeavors to further improve and develop the mushroom industry in the region, by providing technical support, quality materials, and assist in market development.

2. Objectives    

Assess current cultivation methods, extent of cultivation programs, and types of mushrooms being grown in NE India Determine productivity, yields, costs, and income generated from growing mushrooms Determine current challenges local industry and growers are facing and find solutions to these challenges Conduct field surveys to assess diversity of wild mushrooms, in order to identify potential edible mushroom species suitable for cultivation under local environmental conditions

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3. Itinerary Date: 20.08.2018 - 27.08.2018 Date

Venue

Task

20.08.2018

Balipara, Tezpur, Assam

Arrive to Wild Mahseer

21.08.2018

Tarajan, Jorhat, Assam

Visited to Dr. A. K. Bordoloi’s mushroom farm

21.08.2018

Visit Hathikuli Tea Estate

Discussion with manager regarding mushroom cultivation and challenges faced

22.08.2018

Jalukie, Peren, Nagaland

Visited to community-owned mushroom farms

24.08.2018

Umiam, Meghalaya

Presentations done in Central Agricultural University

24.08.2018

Umiam, Meghalaya

Visited to a mushroom farm

25.08.2018

Mawphlang, Meghalaya

25.08.2018

Nongwah, Meghalaya

Tyrsad,

25.08.2018

Jakrem, Meghalaya

Mawkyrwat,

26.08.2018

Guwahati, Assam

Shillong,

Collecting visit to the forest in Mawphlang Visited to a household mushroom cultivation Talk with a local women who collected wild edible mushrooms Returned to Guwahati

4. Field trip Visit Balipara Foundation and Botanic Ark We spent a part of the first morning walking the campus of Balipara Foundation, mostly discussing the program with Prabir. However, in the course of our walk and discussions we found 3 species of mushroom (Ganoderma, Auricularia, and Tremella) which have market potential and are easily cultivated. A good sign that the local environment is conducive to growing mushrooms.

Visit to Dr. A. K. Bordoloi’s mushroom farm at Jorhat, Assam Dr. A. K. Bordoloi, a mycologist, runs a small-scale mushroom enterprise and he has his own lab set-up for producing Pleurotus ostreatus spawn. Spawn are distributed amongst the local people who then cultivate and sell the mushrooms back to Dr Bordoloi. Mushrooms are packed in plastic bags as dried or as pickled peoducts and are sold in local markets. Currently Dr Bordoloi has conducted more than 500 trainings on mushroom cultivation, with an existing network of around 200 growers.

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Species: Pleurotus ostreatus (resistant variety) Method: Bag cultivation Main substrate used: Rice straw Weight of the substrate: 7 kg of damp rice straw per bag Sterilization capacity: 4 bags at a time (around 80 bags per month) Yield: 1 – 2 kg of fresh mushrooms per bag Harvesting period: 3 months maximum harvesting time Income: Rs. 8000 – 9000/month

Figure 1. Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation in Bordoloi’s mushroom farm a. Laminar air flow b.

Laboratory c. Incubator d. Spawn inoculated bags in incubation room e,f. Mushroom growing house g. Dried and pickled products of mushrooms.

Visit Hathikuli tea Estate for discussion on mushroom cultivation We visited Hathikuli Tea Estate to discuss with the manager, Chandan Sarmah, regarding their past experiences growing mushrooms. In the pat they had attempted to cultivate Pleurotus ostreatus using 7kg bags (weight unconfirmed), and met with limited success. Crop was ravaged by both rodents and then secondary infection. Secondary infection likely the result of Trichoderma, an aggressive fungus known to infect growth substrates commonly used in cultivation practices. Suggestions for moving forward would be to first take necessary measures to limit rat infestation, and then to start a www.baliparafoundation.com www.kib.ac.cn

clean production line. Area used for production needs to be sterilized frequently using a strong antifungal agent before production begins. Not sure if this infringes on the organic status of the tea estate or not? Once a facility has been hit by heavy levels of infection it is difficult to avoid reinfection of subsequent crops in the future without use of fungicides. If no fungicides can be used then either new facilities would have to be built/production started in a different area, or a different style of cultivation is recommended, perhaps growing mushroom outdoors on logs (Shiitake), soil substrates (Stropharia for example), or bags (Auricularia, Shiitake etc).

Visit to community-owned mushroom farms in Jalukie, Nagaland The Rongmei Baptist Association of Nagaland in Jalukie village has been cultivating Pleurotus ostreatus as well as supporting local women to cultivate mushrooms by providing materials and training. These women have been working as teams and each woman has her own growing house containing 500 mushroom bags. They are selling fresh mushrooms in the village markets and they have a great interest to cultivating other species. A major challenge for this group is a steady supply of spawn, low spawn quality, and quality control for mushroom growing. A small degree of extension work would make a big difference to the quality and yields of the mushroom growers we visited in this area.

Species: Pleurotus ostreatus Method: Bag cultivation Main substrate used: Sawdust Weight of the substrate: 1 kg of wet sawdust per bag Sterilization capacity: 145 – 150 bags at a time Yield: 3 – 3.5 kg of fresh mushrooms per bag Harvesting period: 6 – 8 months (after 30 – 45 days incubation period) Income: Rs. 5000 – 7000/month

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Figure 2. Community-owned Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation in Jalukie a,b. Mushroom growing houses c,d,e. Mushroom bags on bamboo racks f. bags with yellow colour mycelium g. insect attacked fruiting body.

Visit Central Agricultural University and mushroom cultivation demonstration farm, Umiam, Meghalaya We met with Dr Shwarmi and colleagues at the Central Agricultural University to discuss their program for growing mushrooms, and meet some local farmers who are currently cultivating mushrooms. The meeting at the university was useful in order to see what is being done at a more academic level, the types of research they are conducting, and the level of training their students receive. Basic cultivation is taught to undergraduate students, so most students have some knowledge about cultivation.

We were taken to a farm where a local farmer is cultivating Pleurotus ostreatus, a very nice demonstration of village level cultivation, with potential for high production. The farmer said his biggest challenge was spawn supply and quality (spawn supplied by Indian Council for Agricultural Research – ICAR). Farmer also expressed interest in learning how to make his own spawn and supply this to other growers in the area.

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Figure 3. Mushroom production facilities at Central Agricultural university, Umiam, Meghalya (a,c); and grow room and grow bags on local farm (b,d) production done with support of the university and ICAR. Visit to a household mushroom cultivation Nongwah, Meghalaya A group of households have been cultivating Pleurotus eryngii in Nongwah village (higher elevation, cooler conditions), we were able to visit the production facilities of two women from this village to learn more about their techniques and challenges. They are following simplest cultivation technique for producing mushrooms, boiling straw substrate, placing in large bags and allowing colonization to take place in the bags. Once colonized, straw substrate is kept in a dark room and watered regularly.

The temperature required for fruiting body development of P. eryngii is relatively lower (< 20 °C) than the P. ostreatus and therefore climate in Nongwah ideal for cultivating P. eryngii. The ladies we spoke with are interested in getting different strains and species to grow, and expressed that the lack of spawn quality was affecting production.

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Species: Pleurotus eryngii Method: Bag cultivation Main substrate used: Rice straw Weight of the substrate: 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15 kg of damp rice straw per bag Sterilization capacity: Boil rice straw 30 minutes in water Yield: 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3.5 kg of fresh mushrooms per bag Harvesting period: 1 month Income: Rs. 200 per 1 kg

Figure 3. Pleurotus eryngii cultivation in Nongwah a. Mushroom growing house b. Fruiting bodies on rice straw bales.

5. Challenges and recommendations to overcome certain issues 1. Production and supply of quality spawns Currently spawn supply is sporadic and quality is variable, with all spawn being supplied by the ICAR. There is also a limited number of species/strains available to local growers. Based on feedback we received from places visited, production and supply of quality spawn is a major bottleneck for all mushroom producers in the region. Mushroom producers have to wait long queues to get spawn and sometimes the quality of the spawn is very low. Mushroom growers are discouraged due to slow supply of spawn and yield of mushrooms decrease due to low quality of spawns. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a reliable supply of spawn in order to sustain the industry.

A good strategy may include establishing a number of spawn producers throughout the region, each spawn producer could receive training and equipment, and supply spawn to growers in their www.baliparafoundation.com www.kib.ac.cn

respective areas, thus creating a small enterprise to support their households. This would be a crucial step in growing the industry. An alternative approach would be to create a larger more centralized production facility that specializes in producing spawn for a range of species and generates a constant supply at necessary volumes and quality is ensured. A distribution network would need to be established to distribute spawn accordingly.

2. Quality control of bagging process In order to fulfill the increasing demand, it is necessary to increase the production of mushroom grow bags, for example, in Jalukie, bagging is carried out by hand and a beer bottle is used to stuff the substrate into the bags. In addition to being slow and inefficient, this results in an inconsistent quality of grow bag, and ultimately yields will vary and an increase in infection is likely to result as well. Among observed farms, no mushroom producers use mechanized equipment for producing bags. It is recommended that areas which will begin to produce larger volumes of mushrooms and require a higher turnover of grow bags should employ a mechanized approach. There is relatively low-cost equipment available (about 100-150 USD in China for example) for this process. We do realize this is not an option for all producers and it will also depend on the size/volume of the grow bags to be used by the growers. However, as this industry develops and becomes more profitable, many growers will begin to afford such investments in their production line.

3. Drying facilities for preserve mushrooms Drying mushrooms is a simple way to preserve them for long-term storage and trade, however, if not dried properly the mushroom quality will deteriorate and often entire batches will be lost, ruining income for farmers and also the reputation of the farmers who will be selling subgrade product. Sun drying is an economical way to preserve mushrooms, however this is not always an option in the wet season. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce low cost drying facilities for preserving mushrooms, there are numerous options and designs available that can be implemented at the village level.

4. Extension work and quality control In order to ensure a high level of quality for the mushrooms being produced, and to maintain high yielding crops, a certain amount of follow up training for the growers is required along with some regular monitoring/extension work. A few examples:

i)

ii)

the yellowing/rotting of mycelium and fruiting bodies at grow houses in Jalukie is a result of overwatering and is easily remedied, however growers were unaware of the negative impacts of overwatering (figure. 2f).

The infestation of fruiting bodies in Jalukie by insect larvae (figure. 2g), again, easily remedied if the growers know what to look for.

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iii)

The issue of a shortened fruiting periods and small fruiting bodies experienced in Nongwah village can be overcome with a bit of outside assistance.

To address such issues it is necessary to provide scientific/technical knowledge and more in depth training about mushroom cultivation to the growers.

5. Introducing new edible and medicinal mushroom species Pleurotus ostreatus is the most popular mushroom species among the cultivators in the region.

Edible and medicinal mushroom species, other than the Pleurotus spp., were found in field excursions (figure. 4) and those species have high potentials for domestication as local species / strains. However, domestication of local species / strains can be a time consuming process because it is necessary to do several cultivation trials and laboratory tests before they can be introduced to the growers. Therefore exotic species / strains of the same genus (eg: Auricularia cornea, Oudemansiella radicata, Ganoderma lucidum) can be introduced to the mushroom growers to achieve short-term goals.

Figure 4. Potential edible and medicinal species collected in the field excursions a. Auricularia sp. at Wild masher, Assam b,c. Oudemansiella sp. at Mawphlang, Meghalaya d. Ganoderma sp. at Mawphlang, Meghalaya

6. Increase wild edible mushroom consumption of locals Since the local knowledge of wild edible mushrooms in the area is limited people are afraid to eat wild mushrooms, so it is necessary to educate locals about wild edible, medicinal and poisonous mushrooms. This should be done rather conservatively, introducing a few easily recognizable species at a time, to ensure that no mistakes are made and local communities do not eat poisonous mushrooms. Posters displaying edible and poisonous mushrooms can be posted in villages, and pamphlets or booklets showing clear pictures of the different wild mushroom species can be distributed in local languages to ensure enough information is made available to local people interested in mushrooms.

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Figure 5. Wild edible mushroom species with excellent taste a. Cantharellus sp. b. Termitomyces sp. c. collection of wild edible mushrooms by a local women in Jakrem d. with the local women collecting wild mushrooms in Jakrem 6. Next steps Next steps should include Balipara Foundation allocating 1 or 2 people to receive training at the Kunming Institute of Botany in all necessary techniques regarding mushroom culturing, spawn production, and cultivation of mushrooms. Gautum Baruah has expressed interest in this topic.

Following this training, budget allocation should be discussed for purchasing of equipment to establish a culture room, spawn production facility, bagging equipment and grow houses for cultivation of mushrooms on Balipara Foundation campus. These facilities will not only act as an area for the allocated persons to continue learning and practicing necessary techniques in mushroom growing, but can also act as a demonstration site for local communities or farmers interested in learning more about growing mushrooms. We recommend building two styles of grow rooms: first, a basic bamboo and mud style room, similar to what we have seen being used by rural growers in NE India, and second, a more modern style grow room allowing for high end production and showcasing the true potential of mushroom production in the region.

Follow up discussions regarding length of training, further visits to Balipara Foundation and the region as well as budgets will need to be had in order to move all this forward. However, we feel this past trip was a great success and has really shown us what the current status of cultivation is and what the future potential can be. We learnt a great deal and are confident we will be able to not only address the current challenges the industry is facing, but also those to be faced when scaling the industry.

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