Define Mushroom culture. Explain the mushroom cultivation methods.

Explanation

Mushroom is a fungi belonging to basidiomycetes.It is rich in proteins, fibres, vitamins and minerals.Mushroom culture is the process of producing food, medicine, and other products by the cultivation of mushrooms.
Mushroom can be cultivated either on paddy straw or on wood log.
Major stages of mushrorm cultivation are,
Composting
Compost is prepared by mixing paddy straw with number of organic materials like cow dung and inorganic fertilizers.It is kept at about `50^(@)`C for one week.
Spawning
Spawn is the mushroom seed. It is prepared by growing fungal mycelieum in grains uunder sterile conditions.Spawn is sown on compost.
Casing
Compost is covered with a thin layer of soil.It gives support to the growing mushroom, provides humidity and helps regulate the temperature.
Pinning
Mycelium starts to form little bud, which will develop into mushroom.Those little white buds are called pins.
Harvesting
Mushroom grow better in `15^(@)C- 23^(@)C`. They grow 3 cm in a week which is the normal size for harvesting.In the third week the first flush mushroom can be harvested.