Mushroom Culture

Practical - 9

Aim of the Practical: The students will learn the technology to prepare spawn and cultivate the milky mushroom ( Calocyba sp.) on unpasteurized compost or cereal straw and also its preservation technique.

• Due to the pure white colour of fruit bodies, these are known as Milky mushrooms. Like oyster , this mushroom can also be cultivated on a wide range of substrates containing lignin , hemicellulose and cellulose like straw of wheat, maize, sorghum, cotton stalks, paddy, ragi, dehulled maize cobs, sugarcane bagasse, Jute and cotton wastes, tea / coffee wastes etc. Straw should not be green but fresh and dry enough to discourage the growth of moulds which may cause crop failures .Mainly cereal straw is used for the purpose.

Fig. 9.1 Fruit bodies of milky mushroom ( Calocybe indica )
Fig. 9.2 Mature fruit bodies of C. indica ready for harvest