FAO mushroom farming

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Business and entrepreneurial skills Entrepreneurial skills are required if growers intend their cultivation activities to go beyond subsistence and local trade, and wish to develop a small business. These may include basic bookkeeping skills, planning and administration, management supplies of materials (sterilization equipment, and appropriate and timely quantities of substrate and spores), management and coordination of packaging and transport, and negotiation skills and marketing. Market information External assistance can help establish links and contacts for information on trends in product price, quantity and quality, understanding how market chains are structured and function, why similar mushroom cultivation initiatives may have failed or been successful. Additional training and support can then enable cultivators to use this information to their advantage. Financial services Fortunately small-scale mushroom cultivation does not require significant financial assets to establish an enterprise. Cash, savings and access to credit or grants are seldom essential to initiate small- scale cultivation systems, sufficient to provide a nutritious source of food and reliable source of instant cash. Financial resources will however become more important as the size of an enterprise scalesup, or if cultivators want to explore adding value through processing and consider investment in drying equipment, or secure specialist containers to package and transport products further to more distant markets. The types of credit available vary between countries. Central and local governments and private organizations are normally good sources of credit for establishing farming business. Farmers will raise cash from farm gate sales or from agents or cooperatives marketing their produce. Cooperatives are often in a better position to offer credit to rural farmers than individuals or financial institutions. External funding can be used to provide more efficient or high technological processing equipment, facilitate information and exchange visits, and provide training to expand cultivation skills. Organizational options Organization between cultivators to facilitate knowledge exchange, reduce vulnerability to shocks, and increase capacity to cultivate through Make money by growing mushrooms 41
shared investment in equipment, helps reduce the vulnerability of individuals. If producers are specifically interested in trading mushrooms, organization can also help achieve a consistent, better quality and larger volume of supply, and collective or shared transport costs can help overcome the challenges of trading a perishable good. Company-community partnership can take various forms including collaboration with companies or organizations which provide credit and technology. For example, a partnership arrangement may exist between a mushroom wholesaler and a number of smaller cultivation units who supply the wholesaler in return for technical and financial assistance. Role of advisor In conclusion, the following steps may be considered when planning a programme of assistance to rural farmers and villagers in mushroom growing: • training government and private sector extension personnel in good agricultural practices; • training farmers and villagers in their localities; • setting up a pilot demonstration farm in the village; • providing access to spawn and basic equipment required for growing mushrooms; • conducting field days on practical methods of growing mushrooms for the benefit of potential mushroom growers in the villages; • providing advice on mushrooms marketing and obtaining market links to local and distant markets; • assisting in setting up cooperatives or producer groups for the benefit of all the villagers in accessing finance, continuing education to improve farming skills and obtaining market links to local and distant markets. • selecting the mushroom varieties that are appropriate to the location of the village and market demand; 42
Page 1 and 2: Make money by growing mushrooms FAO
Page 3 and 4: The views expressed in this publica
Page 5 and 6: Strategies for successful and susta
Page 7 and 8: each booklet identifies additional
Page 10 and 11: Introduction There are hundreds of
Page 12 and 13: Mushrooms and sustainable livelihoo
Page 14 and 15: The medicinal properties of mushroo
Page 16: Livelihood opportunities Trade in c
Page 19 and 20: FIGURE 3 Life cycle of a mushroom 4
Page 21 and 22: saprobic species. Some mushrooms -
Page 23 and 24: FIGURE 4 Incubation of mushroom spa
Page 25 and 26: y hanging wet rags at several point
Page 27 and 28: laboratory facilities to produce sp
Page 29 and 30: FIGURE 8 Pleurotus ostreatus (Photo
Page 31 and 32: and, as the spawn develops and the
Page 34 and 35: Assets required for mushroom cultiv
Page 36 and 37: A sterilized composted substrate on
Page 38 and 39: FIGURE 11 Mushroom houses with wall
Page 40 and 41: Strategies for successful and susta
Page 42 and 43: CASE STUDY 6 Product quality and ma
Page 44 and 45: CASE STUDY 7 The magic touch of a l
Page 46: new techniques and/or varieties is
Page 49: • implementing rural livelihood s
Page 53 and 54: isk for small-scale producers, and
Page 56 and 57: Selected further reading Aletor, V.
Page 58 and 59: Smith, J.E., Rowan, N.J. & Sullivan
Page 60 and 61: Sources of further information and
Page 62 and 63: Federal Institute of Industrial Res
Page 64: THIS BOOKLET HIGHLIGHTS THE MANY OP

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