Status and constraints of straw mushroom cultivation in Odisha

Abstract

The hot and humid coastal agro-ecological situation of Odisha with the abundance of manpower and agricultural waste has made it most suitable for year-round cultivation of straw mushroom. It is often cultivated outdoor in the shade of coconut, areca nut, mango, jackfruit, cashew nut, bamboo, Casuarina and banana plantations as an intercrop in the districts of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Puri and Ganjam. However, it is largely an indoor crop in the remaining districts. As per the estimate, the straw mushroom production of the state was 9,550 tonnes during 2015-16, contributing to 60 % of the total mushroom production (15,986 tonnes). The four leading districts namely, Puri, Ganjam, Khurda and Dhenkanal combinedly shared 58 % of the total straw mushroom production of the state. However, it was observed that all the thirty districts of Odisha are engaged in commercial straw mushroom cultivation employing the conventional procedure with outdoor production to the tune of 59 %. The above exercise established the fact that straw mushroom production has assumed the status of a cottage industry being the livelihood option of a large section of society. Non-availability of quality spawn and bed contamination with competitor moulds were the major constraints encountered in all the four leading districts surveyed across the zones resulting in poor biological efficiency (10 %). Coprinus appeared to be the main competitor besides stray incidence of Sclerotium, Rhizopus, Mucor, Trichoderma, Aspergillus and Penicillium. Unorganized marketing of fresh mushroom was another problem faced by the growers.

The hot and humid coastal agro-ecological situation of Odisha with abundance of manpower and agricultural waste has made it most suitable for year-round cultivation of straw mushroom. It is often cultivated outdoor in the shade of coconut, areca nut, mango, jackfruit, cashew nut, bamboo, casurina and banana plantations as an intercrop in the districts of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Puri and Ganjam. However, it is largely an indoor crop in the remaining districts. As per the estimate, the straw mushroom production of the state was 9,550 tonnes during 2015-16, contributing to 60 % of the total mushroom production (15,986 tonnes). The four leading districts namely, Puri, Ganjam, Khurda and Dhenkanal combinedly shared 58 % of total straw mushroom production of the state. However, it was observed that all the thirty districts of Odisha are engaged in commercial straw mushroom cultivation employing the conventional procedure with outdoor production to the tune of 59 %. The above exercise established the fact that straw mushroom production has assumed the status of a cottage industry being the livelihood option of a large section of society. Non-availability of quality spawn and bed contamination with competitor moulds were the major constraints encountered in all the four leading districts surveyed across the zones resulting in poor biological efficiency (10 %). Coprinus appeared to be the main competitor besides stray incidence of Sclerotium, Rhizopus, Mucor, Trichoderma, Aspergillus and Penicillium. Unorganized marketing of fresh mushroom was another problem faced by the  growers.