Evaluation of Substrate Productivity and Market Quality of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) Grown on Different Substrates

Effect of mixing cereal and legume straws on yield of grey oyster mushroom under controlled conditions

“…Furthermore, the substrate composition for maize could be better than that for sorghum. Owing to its pulpy stem, the sorghum has a Jointbiplot (Total -100.00%) PC2 -17.67% PC1 -82.33% very loose texture that is not preferred by the mushrooms (Chitamba, 2007;Zireva et al, 2007). For this reason, the use of sorghum alone is widely discouraged (Chitamba, 2007;Zireva et al, 2007).…”

“…In countries like Zimbabwe, maize straw and corn cobs are readily available since maize is a staple food crop (Chitamba, 2007). Also, sorghum is common in the drier parts of the country, where maize production is limited.…”

“…Substantial research has been done in Zimbabwe to find out the performance of different agricultural wastes as mushroom substrates (Chitamba, 2007). Farmers grow several crops that include the protein rich leguminous crops.…”

“…have high value and short life cycle of up to 30 days (Chitamba, 2007) that results in quick returns; coupled with a huge local demand. Its production can be done irrespective of age, gender or skill (Gume et al, 2013).…”

King tuber mushroom: Bioconversion of fluted pumpkin, sawdust and paper

“…The use of fluted pumpkin stem as a substrate for mushroom cultivation should be encouraged in view of the observation made in this study especially considering the abundance and availability of the substrate. A number of researchers (Onyango et al, 2011;Chitamba et al, 2012;Ukoima et al, 2009) have reported the advantages of using agricultural wastes as growing substrates.…”