Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan-173 230
National Symposium on Strategic Issues in Plant Pathological Research held at Department of Plant Pathology, CSK HP Krishi Vishvavidayalaya, Palampur on November 24–25, 2011
Mushroom cultivation utilizes waste materials like straws, chicken manure and various other wastes to produce quality food and in itself it is a secondary crop. At present over 600 million tonnes of agro-wastes are produced in the country and in addition there is a large amount of horticultural industry waste and forest waste. It is therefore utmost important to promote mushroom as a secondary crop. This will require close collaboration among different institutions, databases on different types of wastes available in different regions. This information can help us to identify suitable species/varieties of mushrooms for different eco-regions of the country. It will be important to integrate mushroom cultivation with existing farming systems so that the waste produced after growing mushrooms can be utilized for improving the soil health. It is therefore important to identify and promote species/varieties of mushrooms consonant with the agro-waste available in the region; utilize lignocellulose degrading macro-fungi for degradation of agro-wastes which are otherwise difficult to decompose (e.g. coconut wastes); utilize mushroom residues and mushroom waste for animal feed; utilize spent mushroom substrate for production of vermi-compost/biodynamic compost/organic compost; and value added mushrooms (like vitamin D rich mushrooms by exposure to UV) and mushroom products as per Indian food habits.
