A practical guide to growing mushrooms in IndiaA joint educational initiative by MushroomWale & DMR Solan
MushroomFarming.in

A joint educational initiative by

MushroomWale.com
ICAR–Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan logoICAR–DMRSolan
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Choosing a specialty mushroom

Contents · choose a chapter or topic
Start here
  1. 01Choosing a specialty mushroom
  2. 02What you need before starting
Understand the basics
  1. 03The mushroom is not the whole organism
  2. 04Three mushrooms, three different crop arrangements
Learn before scaling
  1. 05What to ask from a practical training programme
The process
  1. 06Identify the method and its evidence
  2. 07Locate the production boundary
  3. 08Test the learning plan
  4. 09Validate the product and market
Practise and review
  1. 10Mistakes to avoid
  2. 11Build a go, hold or investigate dossier
Sources and next steps
  1. 12Keep learning with the field guides

Understand the basics

Look closely

The mushroom is not the whole organism

The visible mushroom is a fruiting body. The fungus also grows as mycelium: a network of fine threads through its growing material. A farmer first establishes that growth, then manages conditions in which fruiting bodies can develop. A bag without mushrooms may still be in its growing stage.

In this Button illustration, the cap, gills and stem belong to the fruiting body. The network below represents mycelium in compost. The separate top layer is casing. Other cultivated mushrooms may use different materials and may not need casing.

For your own crop, record two different observations: development of the growing material and development of the mushrooms. Do not describe both simply as “the crop looks white”. A drawing cannot distinguish cultivated mycelium from contamination in your bag.

Choosing a specialty mushroom03

English learning edition · Independent technical review pending. Keyboard: focus the reading page and use ← / →. Page turning does not mark practical competence.