| The effects
of casing soil composition on mushroom productivity were studied. The
casing soil consisted of: 50% garden loam soil + two-year-old farmyard
manure or FYM (control, set 1), spent biogas plant silage + 0.5%
diammonium phosphate (DAP)+ 0.5% superphosphate (set 2), 50% spent
biogas plant silage + 50% FYM (set 3), 50% spent biogas plant silage +
25% FYM + 25% two-year-old spent compost + 1% DAP + 1% superphosphate
(set 4), 50% spent biogas plant silage + 50% spent compost + 0.5% DAP +
0.5% superphosphate (set 5), and 50% spent biogas plant silage + 25% FYM
+ 25% garden loam soil (set 6). Bags containing the casing soil and a
straw-based compost with 1.5-inch thick spawn layer were transferred to
growth chambers at 24 plus or minus 1 deg C. The mycelium impregnated
the casing soil in 8-10 days. When the casing soil was fully
impregnated with mycelia, the temperature of the chamber was lowered to
18 plus or minus deg C. The mushrooms were harvested after 11-12 days.
Except for set 2, which recorded 21% lower crop yield, all treatments
gave higher crop yields than the control. Set 4 resulted in the highest
yield (48.16 kg), which was approximately 25.7% higher than that of the
control. At least 8 flushes of mushrooms were obtained with all the
treatments except set 2, with which only 7 flushes of mushrooms were
obtained. Based on mushroom productivity, set 4 was superior among the
casing soil treatments. |
