Exploitation of Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) shoot biomass for production of oyster mushrooms

Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) is an important aromatic oil yielding crop in India and well known for its application in medicine, perfumery and soil conservation. The shoot biomass of vetiver grass can be used as straw that will not only find application in forage as animal feed and compost making but also for production of edible mushrooms. With this in view, an experiment was conducted to cultivate oyster mushroom Pleurotus florida by utilizing vetiver grass straw and combination of paddy straw and vetiver (1: 1) as substrates. Paddy straw substrate alone was used for comparison. The results revealed that vetiver straw yielded 360 g/350 g dry straw weight (BE of 108.6%) of P. florida mushrooms with B: C of 3.0. The substrate combination with paddy straw and vetiver yielded 398.3g/350 g dry straw weight with B: C of 3.2 (bioefficiency of 113.7%). However, paddy straw yielded 423.3 g/350 g dry straw weight with B: C of 3.2 (bioefficiency of 120.9%). The results imply that vetiver straw alone or in combination with paddy straw can be best utilized for cultivation of oyster mushroom on commercial basis that will fetch additional income to farmers and can suitably fit in vetiver integrated farming system.