WHITE BUTTON MUSHROOM CULTIVATION

Dr. B. Vijay
Directorate of Mushroom Research
Solan
A.bisporus is a temperate mushroom and requires 16 -
18C for its fructification. Its cultivation can be divided
into under mentioned heads
• Production or procurement of spawn
• Production of compost
• Spawning
• Casing
• Raising of crop
 Spawn

For in-house spawn production a well defined

laboratory is required. A small farm can procure
quality spawn from a reliable laboratory situated
in the region
 Compost

White button compost is the product of fermentation

brought about by the variety of organisms. They
degrade the straw & convert soluble form of
nitrogen into microbial cell substances which is
preferentially utilized by the A. bisporus mycelium.
Compost is very selective in nature and properly
prepared compost should support the A. bisporus
growth at the practical exclusion of competitors.
RAW MATERIALS AND FORMULATIONS
FOR WHITE BUTTON MUSHROOM
COMPOST PRODUCTION
White button mushroom requires well composted
material for its growth. It is a saprophytic fungus.
Compost is prepared by using a variety of base
materials by a fermentation process brought about
by the variety of organisms. End product is most
suitable for the growth of mushroom at the practical
exclusion of the competitors.
 Materials required for composting

Vegetable base materials: Wheat straw, Paddy

straw, Sugarcane bagasse, soybean straw, mustard
straw etc.
These are reservoir of cellulose and hemi cellulose
and provide carbon nutrition.
Should be freshly harvested, 5-8cm long, shining
yellow,
Add bulk to the compost

N% 0.4-1.0%
 Supplements:
CN ratio of veg. Base maerials is high ,it has to be
supplemented with N sources to bring it down to start
fermentation

Animal manures: Horse manure, chicken manure N % 2.0-3.0 %

Carbohydrate sources: These materials are required to balance

the CN ratio and also to hasten the composting process
Wheat bran, molasses rice bran, apple pomace etc. can be
placed in this category
Since above materials are easily soluble in water, they are
readily available to micro-organism for their utilization
 Nitrogen fertilizers:

• urea
• calcium ammonium nitrate,
• ammonium sulfate

Nitrogen content of these are very high (28-46%)

which is released quickly, resulting in quick establishment of
microflora.
 Concentrate meals:

Animal feeds are generally kept in this category.

• Wheat or rice bran,

• Dried brewer's grain,
• soybean meal
• Cotton seed meal,
• Castor meal
• Sunflower meal etc.

These materials supply both nitrogen and carbohydrates which

as in case of animal manures are released slowly.

Nitrogen content 3-12%

 Supplements designed to rectify mineral deficiencies:

• Muriate of potash
• Superphosphate
• Gypsum
• Calcium carbonate

Gypsum is exclusively used in mushroom composting

for balancing the pH, removing the greasiness and for
suspending colloidal materials.
It serves as the calcium nutrition for A. bisporus and also
converts oxalic acid into calcium oxalate
Moisture and nitrogen contents of compost raw materials.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% moisture N%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wheat straw 15 0.5
Horse manure - light 30 0.8
Horse manure - heavy 50 1.0
Deep letter chicken manure 30 3.0
Wheat bran 10 2.0
Brewers grain 40 2.0
Soybean meal 10 6.5
Cotton seed meal 10 7.0
 Nitrogen computation guidelines

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredients Fresh wt Moisture Dry wt N% Kg N
(kg) (kg) % (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wheat straw 300.0 10 270.0 0.40 1.08
Wheat bran 15.0 10 13.5 2.00 0.27
Chicken manure 125.0 10 112.5 2.60 2.93
Urea 5.50 -- 5.5 46.0 2.53
Gypsum 20.0 -- 20.0 -- --
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total wt. 465.5 421.5 6.81
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N% = 1.61
 Standard formulations
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long method Short method
-------------------------------------------------
Wheat straw 1000 kg Wheat straw 1000 kg
CAN 30 kg Chicken manure 400 kg
Super phosphate 25 kg Brewer's grains 72 kg
Urea 12 kg Urea 14.5 kg
Sulphate of Potash 10 kg Gypsum 30 kg
Wheat bran 100 kg
Molasses 16.6 Litres
Gypsum 50 kg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elemental requirement of white button mushroom compost

N 1.5 -1.8%

P2O5 1.2-1.5%

K2O 2.0-2.3%

CaO 1.5-3%

MgO 0.4-0.5%
Formulations should be so designed that starting
mixture should have:
C: N ratio at the starting phase 30:1
Cold N % 1.5-1.75
Final C: N ratio 20-16:1

If N is < 1.5 % and > 1.75 % you may be in trouble

 Table-1: Processes of composting and their attributes;

Attributes Long method Short method Indoor method

Days required for 28-30 16-20 10-12

compost
preparation
Selectivity Partial Complete Complete

Average yield 10-15 18-25 20-30

(kg/100kg
compost)
Effect on Polluting Moderately Non polluting
environment polluting

Av.compost 1.75-2.0 tons 2.0-2.5 tons 3.0-3.5 tons

production / ton
of straw

Average final N 1.75-2.0 2.0-2.2 2.2-2.5

% in compost
Infrastructure Out door Covered Prewetting area
required/ 20 tons composting yard composting yard (60x40ft) + 2
out put compost (60x40 ft.) (60x40 ft) + 1 phase-1 bunkers
tunnel (36x09x12ft) (45x10x10ft) + one
phase–II tunnel
(36x09x12 ft)

Man days required/ 30-35 20-25 15-20

20 tons compost
out put

Power Nil Around 700-900 800-1000

requirement/ 20 KW
tons out put
compost

handling Nil Turner, filling line, filling line, hopper

equipments hopper regulator, regulator, Bob cat.
required Bob cat .
(Large farm)
(> 500TPA)
 MATERIAL REQUIRED FOR COMPOST

Long method
Wheat straw/ Paddy straw(equal quantity) 300kg
Calcium Ammonium Nitrate 9 kg
MOP 3 kg
Super phosphate 3kg
Urea 4 kg
Wheat Bran 25 kg
Gypsum 15 kg
 Short Method
• Wheat straw = 1000kg
• Wheat Bran = 100kg
• Chicken manure = 500kg
• Urea = 15kg
• Gypsum = 40 kg
 Flow Chart Compost (LMC)
Wetting of the Straw Wetting of the ingredients

Mixing Straw + Ingredients

(Moisture72-75%)

Pile Formation

Ist Turning

IInd Turning

III Turning, Add Gypsum

IV,V,VI and VII Turnings

Break Open The Pile

Spawn

Or
Treat it with 1.5 liters of formaldehyde + 50 gms.
Bavistin + 40 liters of water/ ton of compost

Again make a heap and cover

with poly sheet

Remove the sheet, shake the

compost and spawn
 Attributes of a good compost

• Should be dark brown to black in color.

• N level should be between 1.5 - 1.75%
(long method).
• Moisture % between 64 - 68%.
• Should not be greasy.
• pH should be between 7.2 - 7.8.
• Free from insects pests and nematodes.
 Shortcomings of LMC

• dry matter loss of ingredients is more.

• Invaded by many pests/competitors/diseases and hence
not perfectly selective.
• Frequent sprays of insecticides and fungicides are
required.
• Most of the ammonia is lost in the atmosphere resulting
in low final N content of compost.
• Low yields.
• Not environment friendly.
Short method
 Facilities required for short method
compost production
• Pre-wetting area and covered composting yard.
• Pasteurization tunnels.
• Stacking boards.
• Blower with ventilation duct.
• Multi-probe digital thermometers.
• Ammonia and oxygen meters (optional).
• Boiler.
Short method of composting (SMC)
Consists of two phases:

• Phase-I: Outdoor composting for 10 -12 days.

(90% chemical process 10%
biological)

• Phase-II: Pasteurization and conditioning of the

compost inside the tunnel under
definite set of conditions (90% biological
oxidation &10% chemical)
Purpose of pasteurization and
conditioning
• It reduces the time of composting.
• It converts ammonia into microbial protein most of
which otherwise goes waste in the atmosphere in LMC.
• It conditions or sweetens the compost under definite
set of temperature and aeration, uniformly making
compost more selective for the growth of A.bisporus.
• It kills or inactivates insects/pests/diseases and
competitors of A.bisporus which, if present hamper the
growth of A.bisporus thereby reducing the yield.
• In SMC more compost per unit weight of ingredients
is produced.
• SMC increases the yield of mushrooms.
 Characteristics of the compost after phase-
I and before Phase-II

• Brownish throughout. Pieces of straw gleaming

and wet.
• Straw rather long but can be broken with some
force.
• Properly hydrated, around 72 - 75% moisture;
when squeezed drops of water appear between the
fingers.
• Very heavy smell of ammonia. pH approximately
around 8.2 - 8.5
• Still sticky and slimy, hands get dirty and wet.
• Actinomycetes (fire fangs) not so apparent.
• Nitrogen content between 1.5 - 2.0%; ammonia
concentration around 800 - 1000 ppm.
Front End Loader
Multipurpose mobile loader
• Mushroom farm
(compost and raw material
transportation, mixing,
compost turning, compost
filling)
• Agricultural operations
( preparation , construction
work, landscaping,
excavating, loading and
unloading the trucks)
• Other work
(Augur, Rotary cutter,
Grader, Snow blade,
Trencher - digging, trenching,
grading, cutting)
 Water sprayers

Water requirement:
(1 kg) of Mushroom
production
2 litres
• Evaporation loss: 1 litre
• 54 to 83% of water
extraction from
substrate
• 17-46% from the casing
soil
Pre wetting operation
 Blower

• Centrifugal force
• pressure: <2.5kg/cm2
• Pasteurization tunnels
Air flow rate: 150-175
m3/ton/hr
• Pressure: 800-100 mm

Casing chamber showing blower on back side

 Characteristics of the compost
after Phase-II
• Dark brown in color, full of thermophilic fungi
and actinomycetes.
• It is soft, straw breaks rather easily.
• Moisture around 64 - 66 %. No liquid oozes
when squeezed firmly.
• Pleasant sweet smell.
• No stickiness. Hands stay clean and dry.
• N content > 2%
• Ammonia below 10 ppm.
 Advantages of bulk pasteurization
• More compost per unit size of the room can be
treated at time.
• The cost of pasteurization in tunnel is less.
• Same tunnel can be utilized for spawn run in
bulk, which gives effective use of the space.
• Yield per unit weight of compost is generally
higher.
 Flow Chart Compost (SMC)

Phase I

Mixing straw + chicken manure, proper wetting and stacking

-4 Day

Break open the stack , add water, turn and restack

-2 Day

Add other ingredients and make high aerobic stack

0 Day

+2 Day First turning

+4 Day IInd Turning

+6 Day IIIrd Turning and add gypsum

+8 Day IV Turning (may fill the tunnel)

Filling Day (Phase – I Over)

+10 Day
 Phase II

PPC at 45 - 52°C
+2 Day

+3 Day Kill at 59°C for 4-6 hours

+4 Day POPC at 45 - 48°C

POPC over and cool the compost to 25°C

+6 Day

(Phase II Over) Spawning

+7 Day
Production of Environment
Friendly White Button
Mushroom Compost
 Indoor Composting

Need is felt to control the composting

operation in such a fashion so that there is
a least possibility of environmental
pollution resulting in an end product in
shortest possible time suitable for the
growth of mushroom mycelium.
 Indoor Composting

S Selection of the raw materials for indoor

composting is very critical and should have
the following qualities:

• High bulk density.

• Good structure and texture.
• Perfectly mixed raw materials.
• Well balanced chemical composition.
• High level of nutrients.
Composting Schedule

-4 day: Mixing and wetting and of the ingredients out doors

-3 day: Turning, trampling by Bobcat and thorough mixing of the ingredients,

addition of water.

-2 day: High aerobic heap

0 day: Filling in the phase-I tunnel

+ 3 day: Emptying the tunnel, turning and mixing of the compounding mixture and r
re-filling the compost in another phase-I tunnel

+6 day Phase-I operation over and compost transferred to phase-II tunnel

+ 12 day: Phase-II operation over

Advantages of indoor Composting

 No need of costly machinery

 Requirement of composting yard is reduced to1/3
 No emission of foul smell
 Number of labour and cost of production reduced
 Raw materials are prepared in just few hours on
their arrival and can be kept in the tunnel.
 Duration of composting greatly reduced.
 Higher yields.
 Disadvantages of indoor composting

 Low bulk density of compost

 Aesthetic look of the compost is not good

(brown in colour)

 Since turnings are less, initial superior blend

of raw materials is critical
Directorate of Mushroom Research
(Indian Council of Agricultural Research)
Chambaghat, Solan – 173213 (HP) INDIA

Phone : 01792-230767, 230451

Fax : 01792-231207
Email: directordmr@gmail.com
Website : www.nrcmushroom.org