MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Cultivating straw mushrooms

5. Used mushroom bags are broken and

placed inside the wooden frame as
growth media. This allows recycling
of bags.

6. Break old mushroom bags and use as

substrate as follows:
ƒ 1 layer of broken bags
ƒ 1 layer of straw mushroom spawn
ƒ 1 layer of sawdust waste from old
bags
ƒ 1 layer of Broken bags
ƒ 1 layer of Straw mushroom spawn
ƒ 1 layer of Sawdust waste from old
bags
ƒ 1 layer of Broken bags
ƒ 1 layer of Straw mushroom spawn
ƒ 1 layer of Sawdust waste from old
bags

Each layer is mixed with waste from

cleaning mushrooms.

7. Add water and pack with feet to make

cake.

8. Remove wooden frame carefully

leaving a medium cake.

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MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Cultivating straw mushrooms

9. Repeat operation several times

leaving approximately 20 cm between
each cake.

10. Make a drain around the series of

cakes to allow drainage of excess
water.

11. Place little pieces of wood on the side

of the cakes in a slanted manner in
order to create a slope.

12. Spread one or two, or as required,

plastic sheet(s) in order to fully cover
cakes and the pieces of wood to allow
the rain to slip into the drain

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13. Spread hay over the plastic sheet as to

maintain humidity, protect sunlight
and keep or hold the temperature
inside the bed.
After 3 days allow into the bed.
Set-up the curve under the plastic
sheet to make more air.

14. After 4-5 more days check the

premodium and wait for the
harvesting stage.

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 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Packaging

Step 13. PACKAGING

Packaging

Before packaging, make sure all mushrooms are well trimmed.

For selling fresh mushrooms on the market, little or no packaging

is required. Mushrooms are weighed and placed in paper or plastic
bags.

Mushrooms cannot keep for long and therefore all

mushrooms must be sold quickly following harvesting. They
can keep in a refrigerator for 12 – 24 hours. To avoid
humidity from accumulating in the bag, place mushrooms in
bags and blow air in them. Tie bag with rubber band.

If no refrigerator is available, place mushrooms on banana leaves in a cool area, or put them
on top of water under the shade in a well-ventilated place.

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 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Marketing

Step 14. MARKETING

Marketing

Mushrooms can be sold directly to consumers or given to whole sellers. The profit will be
reduced when dealing with an intermediate but if
a good agreement can be made, it also saves on
expenses related to marketing.

Prices of mushrooms will depend on the season

and the type. Different seasons will give better
yields for certain mushrooms.

Sales outlets:

ƒ From the farm – Make sure people know

you cultivate mushrooms
ƒ Community
ƒ Local market
ƒ Neighboring markets
ƒ Restaurants
ƒ Hotels
ƒ Supermarkets

Quality control:

Mushrooms must be clean - trimming is very important

Collect young mushrooms - longer shelf life

- better tasting

Tip: harvesting after watering at least 2-3 hours will conserve mushrooms longer.

Inoculated mushroom bags can also be sold and generate supplemental income.

Note: Constant monitoring of competitors is necessary to ensure market share

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 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Processing

Step 15. PROCESSING

Conserving mushrooms

Because mushrooms are highly perishable, strategies in conservation techniques are

necessary. Drying is a good option since it allows mushrooms to be used in cooking. Drying
can be done with electrical and solar dryers. Nevertheless, this cannot be done during the
rainy season since dried mushrooms would take in humidity immediately and therefore their
conservation cannot be guaranteed.

Fresh mushrooms can be processed and sold to shops and

restaurants as finished products. Many products can be
made with mushrooms. Aside from being added to soups
and sauces, mushrooms can be converted into sweets,
cookies, candies, various snacks, and can also be dried.
However, facilities in rural areas are not necessarily capable
of supporting such processing techniques. The following
recipes are just of few examples of some of the easiest and
most appreciated types of processed mushrooms in South
East Asia, which can easily be done in small villages.

Fermented mushrooms “Pla la hed”

Ingredients

2 kg. Shredded Oyster mushrooms or Nang Fa

200 gr. Roasted rice
100 gr. Salt
3 tablespoons Garlic cloves

Preparation

Clean, trim and shred mushrooms. Steam shredded

mushrooms until tender. Let cool down. Pound roasted rice
using mortar. Add garlic, salt, and pound in mortar.
Place mushrooms in large bowl. Add rice mixture to
mushrooms and blend together. Place in jar or bottle. Press
in jar, add Styrofoam sheet and close lid tightly. Place jar
under the sun for about 3 days. After the 3 days, move in a shaded area for about 2 weeks.
Fermented mushrooms are ready to eat. After opening the jar, place in the refrigerator for
conservation.

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 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Processing

Fermented mushrooms in banana leaf

Ingredients:

2 kg Trimmed oyster mushrooms or Nang Fa

200 gr. Sticky rice
150 gr. Garlic
30 gr. Salt
200 gr. Shanghai noodles (optional)
(to taste) Fresh small chili peppers

Preparation

Clean mushrooms with water and shred.

Steam mushrooms. Let cool down. Press
water out. Pound garlic. Mix mushrooms
with garlic, sticky rice, and salt. Add chili. Press into small balls. Tie with banana leaves or
plastic. Tie with rubber band. Leave at room temperature for a period of 3 days. Ready to eat,
the taste will become sour. These can be eaten as they are or fried with eggs.

Heavenly mushrooms “Hed Sawan”

Ingredients

300 gr. Dried shredded mushrooms

400 gr. Palm sugar
(to taste) White Soya sauce
100 gr. Sesame seeds
1 liter Vegetable cooking oil
2 teaspoons Ground pepper

Preparation

Take fresh oyster mushrooms, trim, shred and place under the sun to dry. Heat-up vegetable
oil in a large pan or wok. Add mushrooms to hot oil and fry until browned. Remove and
absorb oil. In another pan, add white Soya sauce and palm sugar. Cook until sticky. Add
pepper and fried mushrooms. Mix together. Add sesame seeds and mix. Remove and let cool
down. Place in containers.

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 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Processing

Pickled mushrooms with soya sauce.

Ingredients

1 kg Fresh mushrooms
700 gr. Water
50 gr. Salt
50 gr. White Soya sauce .

Preparation

Take fresh mushrooms and clean with water. If mushrooms are too big, cut into 3 –4 pieces.
Blanch them. Remove mushrooms from water and loosely place them in glass bottle or jar.
Leave about ½ each at the top of the bottle. Add salt and white Soya sauce to brine. Pour
brine in to mushroom jars up to the top. Steam bottles to remove all air. Tightly close lid. Let
cool down.

Shrimp paste mushrooms (vegetarian)

Ingredients

1 kg Tailings of soybeans
300 gr. Ground mushrooms (any type except ear mushrooms)
500 gr. Salt .
3 cups Boiling water

Preparation

Steam soybean tailings until cooked. Place in bowl and cover with lid. Let stand for 1 – 3
days. Mix dried grounded mushrooms in boiling water. Cover and let stand for 3 days. Mix
fermented soybeans and fermented mushrooms together. Add salt. Ferment for an additional
seven days. Place in pan and simmer with cover. Mix regularly until cooked. Keep in cool
place.

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 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Waste management and recycling

Step 16. WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING

1 Collect all waste such as plastic or dirty

cotton plugs.
Cotton can be burned as alternate fuel.

Plastic waste should NOT be burned in

open air. It should be sent for collection
by municipal waste treatment facilities
with other garbage, for proper disposal.

2 Substrate from bags can be re-used to

make new bags. Mycelium must be
removed and substrate needs to be well
pasteurized. or converted into compost

3 Substrate bags can also be converted

into compost as follows:

Break bags open and send plastic bags

to be collected by municipality.
Mix substrate with effective
microorganism (EM) and sugar, and
maintain humidity at 65-75 %.
Place in used rice bags for a period of
approximately 30 days or on the ground
under the shade. Compost is then ready
to be used in gardens, rice paddies or
sold as organic fertilizer.

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MUSHROOM CULTIVATION: Waste management and recycling

4 Bring all organic waste to the compost

site and prepare for fertilizer.

5 Separate all usable elements to be re-

used.

6 Plastic necks, cotton, and elastics

can be cleaned and reused.

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