FAO mushroom farming

Assets required for
mushroom cultivation
Mushroom cultivation can play
an important role in helping rural
and peri-urban people strengthen
their livelihoods and become less
vulnerable to hunger and poverty.
Their cultivation requires a wide
range of activities suitable for people
with various needs, diverse interests
and specific capabilities. Key
assets or resources associated with
mushroom cultivation are described
below.
Natural assets
Land and climate play a minimal
role in mushroom cultivation and
this feature makes the enterprise
particularly suitable for farmers with
limited land, as well as the landless.
Unlike wild harvested fungi,
grown mushrooms are not subject
to any ecological uncertainties
including habitat health, nor years of
unpredictable production as a result
of late or reduced rains.
Access to sufficient, suitable and
locally-sourced substrate and spores
are key determinants as to whether
mushroom cultivation is likely to be
successful and sustainable or not.
Both rural farmers and peri-urban
cultivators should be able to obtain
agricultural by-products easily and
cheaply to use as substrate; or, for
certain mushroom species, logs or
sawdust to inoculate with spores.
Mushroom spores can be collected
from mature fruiting bodies, but are
commonly purchased from local
production facilities or laboratories.
Mushroom cultivation is
compatible with other farming and
horticultural activities (see Box 5).
It can be regarded as a very efficient
system in recycling with no waste
from production to consumption.
Make money by growing mushrooms
BOX 5 Rice farming and mushroom growing
In several countries of the Asia-Pacific region mushroom cultivation is integrated into
rice farming. In China and Viet Nam millions of rice farmers integrate rice farming
and rice straw mushroom cultivation. After rice harvest the straw waste is used as the
substrate for growing Volvariella volvacea. Rice straw can also form a component of
the substrate used for growing other species of mushrooms.
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